Glorious Ruins

Glorious Ruins

Hillsong

VERSE
When the mountains fall
And the tempest roars You are with me
When creation folds
Still my soul will soar on Your mercy

PRE-CHORUS
I'll walk through the fire
With my head lifted high
And my spirit revived in Your story
And I'll look to the cross
As my failure is lost
In the light of Your glorious grace

CHORUS
Let the ruins come to life
In the beauty of Your Name
Rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign

And my soul will find refuge
In the shadow of Your wings
I will love You forever
And forever I'll sing

VERSE
When the world caves in
Still my hope will cling to Your promise
Where my courage ends
Let my heart find strength in Your presence

 We’ve heard analogies on how the way our heavenly Father disciplines and corrects us can be compared to a father disciplining his son. We hear how he does it out of love and for our good. And although I firmly believe that God loves me and I’m sure the son in that analogy knows his father loves him, you can’t help but shriek in the midst of the discipline because it’s still unpleasant.

            Right now I'm just feeling worn out. I feel like in this season of my life it's just been trial after trial, and as I sit here and write, I feel like God desires my brokenness. It's a weird sentence to write, but perhaps God wants me to stop striving and finally allow him to repair the broken areas of my life (his way, not the way I tend to patch them up.) 

There has not been a single time in my life where I’ve left a season of God’s discipline lacking anything. I’m puzzled by my attitude in times of hardship because I think that I would rejoice in times like this, knowing that like it says in James “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4). If I truly believe what God’s Word says, I would be joyful throughout the whole process, awaiting the end result where I can see that God is producing more of His character in me.  

Whenever I think of God refining me, I am reminded of this scripture:

“And I will put this third into the fire,

    and refine them as one refines silver,
    and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
    and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Zechariah 13:9

The thought of being refined through fire scares me! Fire is painful and unpleasant. Fire burns and scorches. Fire engulfs! But listen to what it says in Isaiah:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2)

The Lord promises that when we face these trials, we will not be scorched! He tells us that we will not be engulfed by the flames but that he will be with us and provide safe passage! So why should we rejoice in trials and ‘Glorious Ruins’? Because we know that we are being broken to be made anew. Because God is tearing down our idols to build our faith in Him! Because we are going through the fire to be purified and not broken, but reshaped and remade to His service. Lord, help me to walk through the fire with my head lifted high, and my spirit revived by Your story. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast Spirit within me.