Don't fight the process

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.  
​Romans 8:29

Often, the uncomfortable situations we encounter come to thrust us into God's purpose and plan for our lives!  That difficulty that you are going through on today is not meant to kill you but to refine you!  In gold production, it has been said that the refining process involves removing impurities from gold and that the process ceases when the refiner can see His image in the gold!  After Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:20), the Bible records that when God delivered them, "Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched.  They didn't even smell of smoke" (Daniel 3:27 NLT)!  Essentially, they came out like pure gold! 

I once had a dream that I was standing somewhere with a coat on and someone opened a door to what appeared to be a very heated room that resembled a furnace.  I could literally feel the heat from the room in my dream when the door opened and what I can best describe as an invisible man motioned to me to come forward and go into the heat.  Three men went up a few stairs and willingly went in but I stood at the end of the line and refused.  Immediately the unseen man pulled a lever and the three men who had just went in a few moments earlier popped out of trap door in the ceiling and fell unto a cushioned surface without a scratch.  Immediately in my dream I said, "I should have went into the heat because they were not even in there long and God would have perfected what He wanted to do in my life" and then I woke up!  I now understand that the unseen man in my dream was God.

On the road to each and every one of our purposes comes a process!  With that process, comes a season of being uncomfortable and feeling like we are in the fire!  The sooner we submit to the process though fully trusting God and His ability, the sooner God's purpose can begin to manifest in our lives.  Jesus was tempted by Satan for forty days in the wilderness (Luke 4:2).  Nonetheless, Jesus willingly submitted to the process fully trusting in God's ability to deliver Him!  Matthew 4:11 records that God delivered Jesus by sending angels to minister to Him and Luke 4:14-15 records that "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee" and "taught in their synagogues."  Jesus was thrust into His ministry and God's purpose and plan for His life after submitting to God's process fully trusting in Him!  What process is God asking you to submit to today?  Perhaps the Lord has been dealing with you to allow Him to conform you into a more patient parent, a more diligent employee, or a more loving and long-suffering spouse.  We are predestined to be conformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29) and often that involves discomfort and maybe even some pain.  Allow God to take you through the process and come out of the other side victoriously!