For those who have and still are, you are finding layers and layers of stripping much like an old piece of furniture that has decades of paint and stain on it that must come off to reveal the beauty of the handcrafted masterpiece it was created to be. What has been the purpose of this stripping for we have all seen and are still seeing the dirt exposed publicly in places that refused correction intimately? Today, every corner of the earth seems to be groaning and writhing in pain, the pain of birth as scripture would say, but what is the Lord birthing on the earth?
Romans 8:19-23 “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now”. Why is this so necessary in our day, to KNOW who we are as sons and daughters of God? Why is being a “servant” not enough? A Father shares His secrets and His inheritance with His children, not his servants and today we have many servants who are still orphans and if you are around them long enough you see the evidence of that.
Much of the first layer of stripping has been the false identity given to orphans, titles, positions, labels we easily incur as we come into the servanthood of the church. We easily find our purpose and inadvertently attach those things to who we are not being mindful that these are simply things we may be called to do. Our true purpose to enter into the revelation of true identity of sons and daughters. Once this layer is effectively stripped away, the next lay hits closer to home for many and that is family.
This layer is often the most stubborn because we are so emotionally attached to family and many find their identity in earthly family so much so that identity in Christ heavenly family comes in a close second. Instead of considering Christ family in all we do, we tend to consider earthly family in all we do. How will this affect them and my relationship with them, rather than how will this affect heaven itself, where my heavenly and eternal home is. This brings us into a painful time of learning to walk between Genesis 3:15 “Satan strikes the heel of the WOMAN and her seed” and Matthew 10:34-37, not placing our earthly families before Christ. This is especially difficult for MOTHERS because of Genesis 3:15.
We have been taught and easily embrace “family is first ministry”. But NO! Jesus is first ministry and He aligns our families where they should be in that process. The questions is, are we letting Him do that? How willing are we to let go and trust God to fix broken things in our earthly families? How often do we take the reins from Yahweh and do it ourselves? How many times have we told the Lord no, because of family?
I believe that when the Lord God is finished with this layer He will see the fine rich wood underneath all the film that has kept His treasure coated and covered all this time. The “yes” in this stripping process is a costly one, but the yes we give Him here is a treasured one as well. Give Him your yes and let Him do the rest