He Is Faithful to My Heart Part 1 - Pain In Sanctification

I am consistently amazed at the LORD’s faithfulness. He is unwavering and uncompromising in sanctifying our hearts unto Him. Yeshua seeks a bride who is pure and spotless, and He will go at great lengths to pursue and win her to Himself. It is His constancy in love and commitment to the covenant He has made in His name that makes it so.

Oftentimes, the occurrences He allows in order to eternally secure our love cause heartbreak and sorrow for us. With understanding of these times, David writes: “I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness, you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75 NKJV). Other times, they force us to take a deep look at the blackness in our own souls. It isn’t pleasant, but it’s necessary. During these times, we can earnestly cry out: “I am dark, but lovely” (Song of Solomon 1:5). It is His very love that leads us to these places of introspection. The ultimate goal: to uproot the darkness that light may shine freely through us, that love may dwell within us, and that His glory may become ours. We must behold Him, and in the beholding, we are always faced with a decision: to continue beholding and allow the painful dying of our flesh to take place, or to turn away and try our hand at sanctifying ourselves. We will always fail at sanctifying ourselves, but when the beholding becomes too painful, turning away seems the best choice. However, if we wait patiently and endure the pain, we will be made a little more humble, a little more holy, a little more like the Love we seek. He enables us to endure this pain as the One who endured the greatest pain in death on the tree. He knows what we are able to bear and when we are able to bear it.

We need to seek the understanding of this mystery. With worldly eyes, we associate pain with death, but in His kingdom, pain leads to life. It is why, as he laments, Jeremiah is able to declare: “Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23). God is faithful to do what it takes to give us eternal life. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” In friendship, God will always speak truth. It will not always be easy to swallow, but He will always speak it in love and as an act of faithfulness to us that we might endure until the end. Without this type of faithfulness, though it may hurt, we would quickly be swept away by the fads of this world.

Abba is preparing a pure and spotless Bride for His Son and a holy people with whom He can dwell. Sanctification results in holiness. But there is often sorrow in sanctification. It means you let go of your way and the ways of the world to be set apart unto God. It means you die to pride, selfishness, personal gain, and other things the world totes as praiseworthy. It means you look foolish to those whom you may esteem. But what does it matter if our love for God is at stake? The truth is to all of us it means everything and nothing. We must die to everything we hold dear, and it hurts, but compared to Jesus and His sacrifice for us, it’s nothing. In Romans 8:18, Paul writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” I wholeheartedly agree. This verse shines the light of truth on our sufferings. They are nothing compared to the gift of eternity with God, and yet they are necessary to attain that gift He so faithfully gives. It is my heart to dwell with Him eternally in love and in truth, and I know, in the midst of the heartache, He is being faithful to my heart.

Letting Go

A year ago, I found myself in a precarious situation. I was transitioning in many ways. I had left my job a few months before, and I was preparing to go to Israel. I was moving from a place of having a steady income to living on support, and I was healing from the wounds of a past failure due to unwise actions on my part. While moving towards the future, I was clinging to the past and refusing to let go of guilt and a hope in my own ability I had held far too long. Finally the LORD visited me, and this is what happened:

I stood before the LORD, and He asked me who or what would I choose. I couldn't hold onto both. It was then that I noticed my hands were closed into tight fist, clutching guilt from the past. It was guilt over things I didn't do right or I didn't put enough into, and areas where I felt I dishonored God. He called me fair. He said I was spotless in righteousness. Not my own righteousness, but in His. I chose Him. I let go of it all and put my arms around my LORD. I held tightly to Him with all my strength and closed my eyes. We began to ascend into the heavens. I opened my eyes to see it all below me. His love transcends it all. When we are found in His love, nothing can come near us, because we are above it all, seated in heavenly places with the God of the Universe. He is King, and in everything, for better or for worse, I will always choose Him. How about you?