A Season of Sifting
By definition, sifting means to run through a sieve. In my early years, I grew up in the kitchen with my mom baking breads, cakes and pies. Flour was in almost everything, it seemed. And most times the recipe needed flour to be sifted before adding it to the mixture. “But why?” I would ask. “It’s still flour, what does it matter?” Nevertheless, we would pour the flour into the sieve and sift it, creating this flawless mound of flour to use. There was a process of removing clumps or things that would keep the end product from being the best it could be. Imagine my thought when the Holy Spirit spoke that word to my heart in my first few weeks living in Guatemala! What does living a season of sifting look like? After a couple weeks here, and the dust settled, here we were on the brink of everything new. For the first time in months (even years), we were not in hyper speed moving forward. It was like I had stepped into a vacuum.
Many of you may be thinking about what it means from a physical or material standpoint to be sifted. We had just sold our home and moved to a country with far less means than the U.S. Yes we did. But to me, it was much more than that. My heavenly Father wanted this time to be a spiritual and emotional sifting of my heart. My first response? “This doesn’t feel good.” But as with a loving Father, I immediately knew it was all for a greater purpose and it would be GOOD.
I was at a point of surrendering my past, present and future for whatever God had in store. I have often prayed for understanding, but have come to realize that true faith comes when understanding gives way to surrender. I will not always understand God’s plan, but I can choose to surrender it.
I began digging deep into my heart and asking some really tough questions about who I was, why I was here, and what this new season would look like with this man I had lived half my life with. For the first time in 25 years, it was just US again following God into this new unknown. God and I spent some very raw moments together over the next few weeks as he began to reveal truths to my heart. I took steps of confidence in the new revelations of His Word, and God began to do things only He could do. He has brought reconciliation and restoration to relationships I wasn’t sure was possible. He has drawn new people into my life to benefit from the overflow of His truth in my life. I’m telling you, I couldn’t have scripted the ways God has worked.
While this time in Guatemala has been full of new experiences and lots of ministry, for me personally, it has been a time of sifting and revelation from the Lord. God leads us to do some very specific things, but never forget, He has a bigger picture for our lives. He is constantly wanting to refine us and purify us, giving us the best He has to offer. He always has…Jesus!
Waiting on the Lord for truth and revelation is not wasted time. He is in the process of working ALL things together for good. (Romans 8:28)
If you are going through a time of confusion or lack of direction, let me encourage you. The greatest breakthroughs in life come after a time of surrendering everything to God. Sifting might not be comfortable, but it brings about THE BEST results!!
Becky
