RACHEL KELLEY
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When You Walk Through The Fire

7/29/2016

5 Comments

 
            “It’s kinda crazy up there right now,” my husband said as he walked in the door from work.
            “Oh really, like what?”
            “Well, their funding is falling short.”
            “So, what does that mean?” I asked as I filled up a glass of water and turned to walk toward the dining room.
            “Well, they can’t pay me tomorrow.”
            “Can’t pay you?  What do you mean they can’t pay you?”
            “They said they’ll pay me next week. It’s the strangest thing. They’re falling short on their funds, so they’re not paying us until next Friday.”
            “Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good.”
            “No, it’s doesn’t, but it’s probably gonna be okay by next week.”
 
A week turned into a month and the months turned into a year. For one solid year, we never knew when we were going to get paid or if we were going to get paid.
 
It was brutal.
 
But seven years later I can look back on that year as the first brick in a growing spiritual foundation. I think of how much security I put into a paycheck.
 
“But, what if it is gone tomorrow?  Then, what will I trust in?”
 
“It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in mere man”. Psalm 118:8
 
Our financial trials did not cease that year . . . or the next . . . or the next. No, they continued for years. And do you know what I felt in those years?

Fire.

Not just a scorching heat fire but a refiner’s fire. The kind that blazes out pride and self-reliance. The kind of fire God sends removes things that have no purpose. The kind of fire that shapes you into who God wants you to be.

At times it can be scorching hot.

But I learned that my trust had to be in Him. Nothing else. What good is it if I trust in money? What good is it if I trust in a job? A boss? A raise? Is that where I put my trust? No. I had to learn to trust God and God alone.  

Oh, how I wanted out of my situation. I wanted to wake up the next day and be free from it all. Sometimes, I’d wake up only to discover the heat had been turned up a few more degrees. I had to hang on, wait for Him to work, and believe He would not leave me in my situation. I had to find promises in the Bible and cling to them—knowing He would come to my rescue.
 
Are you like me? Are you going into the fire? In the midst of it? Coming out of it? Do you long to see a change in your situation, whether it be in your marriage, in your finances, or in your children? Then do this. Let the fire burn away what the Lord wants removed. Don’t fight it. Press in. Yield to it.
 
Because I can promise you this: You will emerge a different person. God will mold and shape new things in you. And while you are there, always remember Who is in the fire with you—the Lord Himself. He was in the fire with me, and brothers and sisters, He is in the fire with you.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."  Isaiah 43:2


5 Comments
Karen M. Roth link
8/2/2016 04:36:43 pm

This is exactly where I am today. The Past 4 years it has been one thing after another with my health. Then I have driven us into deep debt with my Shopping Addiction. I am 7 months behind on 2 accounts. Now they have found that the mass on my left adrenal gland is growing. I have a pinched nerve in my neck that is causing my body to swell in different places and causing extreme pain. I really want to have our Vow Renewal Ceremony, to be able to have another baby {it is would take a miracle of God to achieve this} and I am wanting to Relaunch my blog but here lately it seems like everything is working against me. My birth family disowned me {mostly my mother and my own children} I recently forgave my father and spoke with him on the phone and told him that I love him. So if you could pray for us I would really appreciate it.

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Rachel link
8/2/2016 07:52:14 pm

Thank you for reaching out to me, Karen. I will pray for you. It sounds like you've taken some steps according to what you feel lee to do and that you know some areas that need mending. As a friend of mine told me recently, "God will do His part but He won't do your part." I learned there were things I could do differently then there were others areas I had to let go of. Press in, dive into the Word! He's with you!

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Theresia link
8/3/2016 02:41:36 am

Seems like when weakness, doubt, and anger take over. Well it hits like a huge bolder out of no where. Financially I think just hang on , you know your check comes in two weeks. Then it's oh that pain will soon go away MRI on 17 th Aug will show my doctor why I hurt all the time.
Then comes Aug 16 see Dentist and see if he can fix my teeth. Just hang on God will get me through.
Then comes the birthing pains of loosing my baby boys , Michael 39 years and Danny 38 years old. My Aunt Reba and Bea Bea in Heaven. Someday that bolder drops on me so hard and the pain so deep it's unrate able . Can't see from the tears and depression. Then out of the darkest night God my Father sends a message from my Guardian angels here on earth. I am not alone , this burning fire of doubt can't touch me, this pain of lose is for me left behind cause I know my family in Heaven. As far as my sons I gave them and their lossness to Jesus ,so why am I afraid for them. Financial worries, no remember my God can do anything. Feed the poor, heal the sick, raise the dead, show the lost their way back home,stop this chronic pain , and let me rest at bed time. See my God Heavenly Father can do and fix anything. He is my protector, so like someone ask me, so then why you worrying about your children and all this other?
Stops now Satan crawl back under your rock. See you can't burn me for I am the daughter of My Heavenly God Almighty. So in Jesus Name I pray and stand firm against what ever comes my way.
Debi God always sends your like His messenger with a life saving reminding of who our Father is ! Praise You Lord Jesus ! Amen !
Thanks Bestie

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Cloy McWilliams
8/29/2016 08:36:55 am

1 Peter 1:7
These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed

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Rachel
8/29/2016 11:54:19 am

Amen! Thank you for sharing that powerful verse! It reminds me of when we first moved to Arkansas, I told my friend, "I feel like I've almost died in this fire." And she said, "No, Rachel. You've been refined by the fire." And that is exactly what it does! Thank you, Cloy, for sharing this encouraging verse today.

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