Refine.
A word that has been resonating in my spirit for awhile. The past few years have been filled with seasons of spiritual refining. As I reflected on the refining process a pattern began to emerge: Reconnect, Relationship, Recognize, and Release. But how do you walk it out daily? I’ll share one of my own breakthroughs below.
RECONNECT. RELATIONSHIP. RECOGNIZE. RELEASE.
Abundance. Overflow. Cup running over blessings.
How many of us have prayed for God to bless our finances?
At one time, each and every one of those phrases was frequently heard in my prayer time with God. And while they have their place, God shifted my mindset and refined my perspective on finances.
As I reconnected with God in quiet time, I poured out my heart’s desires. I wanted an overflow of abundance to land right in my bank account. I wanted a raise or higher paying job. Y’all see that, right? I was telling God what He should do in our relationship. Limiting His power to my tiny self-centered thoughts. But not just that, I was persistent with those prayers in that season. And one day while meditating on the word, I read the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30).
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Matthew 25:21 NIV
The Holy Spirit convicted me. Jesus teaches that we have to be good stewards of whatever we’ve been granted. I hadn’t been faithful with the few things that had been bestowed on me. How could I pray and petition for more when I hadn’t done what I was supposed to do with my current blessings? Walking with the Lord means conforming to His ways, yet I was doing my own thing and wondering why I wasn’t prospering.
I began to recognize that I had spending habits that were not in alignment with God’s word. But I had to dig deeper and get to the root. Was it greed? Comparison? Coveting? At the time, I truly didn’t know, so I decided to do a contentment challenge; 90 days of spending on the essentials only (bills, groceries, and gas). During the challenge, I continued to pray and study specifically on the topic of finances in the Bible.
My eyes were opened to how many mindsets that were counter to, or in direct opposition to the word of God. So many gems were uncovered. As soon as I identified the problem areas, I released them to God in prayer and started obeying God’s word. Did I stumble at times? Absolutely. Yet, God’s grace covers my shortfalls when I strive to do His will.
In the refining, I realized that I had all that I needed, but I mismanaged it. Why? Perhaps it was because I didn’t have full faith that all my needs would be fulfilled. The Spirit challenged me to trust and believe that God is my provider, regardless of what my bank account looks like. The depth of my faith in God has been taken to a whole new level. Today, I just want to encourage you that there is spiritual breakthrough waiting for you on the other side of being refined.
RECONNECT. RELATIONSHIP. RECOGNIZE. RELEASE.
