Welcome to Pimoja Ministry, and welcome to our
new season focused on God's highest purpose for
your life. There are seasons in life when all
you want is for God to intervene. You have prayed.
You have fasted. You have waited. You have asked
God to move what you cannot move, change what
you cannot change, open what you cannot open,
and remove what you cannot remove. And sometimes,
God does exactly that. He opens the door. He
moves the opposition. He changes the circumstances.
He reverses the battle. He makes a way where
there appeared to be no way. We have spent time
exploring this mystery of divine intervention.
Those moments when human ability reaches its
limit and God steps into circumstances in ways
only he can. But today, I want us to go deeper.
Because there is another dimension of divine
intervention that we do not always recognize
while we are experiencing it What if God's intervention
was not only about what was happening around
you? What if all along God's intervention was
also about what was happening inside you? What
if you were asking God to change the situation
while God was using the situation to change you?
What if you were asking God to remove the fire?
while God was using the fire to remove something
from you. What if you were asking God to protect
the vision while God understood that before he
could entrust you with the fullness of that vision,
he needed to refine the person carrying it? That
is where this new journey begins. Refined for
a purpose. First, Peter chapter one speaks about
trials and compares the testing of our faith
to gold being refined by fire. Think about that
picture. Gold is valuable before it enters the
fire. The fire does not create the value of the
gold. The fire reveals it. The fire separates
what belongs from what does not belong. The goldsmith
does not place gold into the furnace because
he hates it. He places it there because he knows
what it can become when the impurities are removed.
And perhaps this is where many of us misunderstand
certain seasons with God. We interpret every
fire primarily through the question, How do I
get out of this? God may be asking, what needs
to come out of you while you are in this? Those
are two very different questions. We are looking
for an exit. God may be producing transformation.
We are looking for relief. God may be developing
character. We are looking for the enemy to move.
God may be revealing something within us that
cannot accompany us into the place He is taking
us. And that means the greatest miracle of your
valley. may not always be that the valley disappeared.
The greatest miracle may be the person who eventually
walked out of it. There are things about ourselves
that prosperity may never reveal. Comfort can
hide them. Success can cover them. Position can
conceal them. Applause can make us ignore them.
But pressure has a strange way of exposing what
is inside us. You don't always know the depth
of your impatience until God makes you wait.
You don't always recognize your anger until someone
continually provokes you. You don't always understand
your dependence upon people's approval until
people misunderstand you. You don't always recognize
pride while everybody is celebrating you. You
don't always recognize uncontrolled desire until
something you desperately want is placed within
reach and God says no. You don't always know
whether you trust God until everything you were
trusting begins disappearing. This is why Deuteronomy
chapter 8 is so powerful. Moses tells Israel
that God led them through the wilderness to humble
them and test them to know what was in their
heart. The wilderness revealed Israel, their
complaints, their fears, their appetites, their
unbelief, their impatience, their tendency to
return mentally to Egypt whenever following God
became uncomfortable. Egypt had physically released
them, but parts of Egypt were still living inside
them. And perhaps that was one of the purposes
of the wilderness. God was not simply taking
Israel out of Egypt. God was taking Egypt out
of Israel. And maybe somebody listening to me
right now is discovering the same thing. God
delivered you from something physically, but
now he is dealing with what that experience left
inside you. The habits. The mentality. The insecurity.
The anger. The fear. The appetite. The relationships.
The patterns. The reactions. The compromises.
Because geographical deliverance is not always
internal deliverance. You can leave Egypt and
still carry Egypt. You can leave the relationship
and still carry its wounds. You can leave the
environment and still carry its habits. You can
leave the old season and still think like the
person you were in the old season. and God loves
you too much to allow yesterday's impurities
to destroy tomorrow's assignment. This changes
how we understand divine intervention. Sometimes
God's intervention looks like deliverance, but
sometimes it looks like disruption. Sometimes
God intervenes by opening a door. Sometimes He
intervenes by closing one. Sometimes He brings
someone into your life. Sometimes his protection
becomes visible when someone leaves. Sometimes
he increases something. Sometimes he reduces
it. Sometimes he gives you what you prayed for.
And sometimes his mercy is revealed through what
he refuses to give you. At the moment, you may
call it disappointment. Later, you may call it
protection. At the moment, you may call it rejection.
Later, you may call it redirection. At the moment,
you may call it loss. Years later, you may look
back and realize, had God allowed me to continue
in that direction, I don't know what I would
have become. Because God sees consequences that
we cannot see. He sees where a relationship is
going. He sees where a habit is going. He sees
where uncontrolled anger is going. He sees where
pride is going. He sees where compromise is going.
He sees where an appetite is going. He sees where
one seemingly insignificant seed can eventually
lead. And because God sees the harvest while
we are still looking at the seed, sometimes his
intervention feels painful. There is another
dimension we need to understand. Sometimes God
is protecting more than you, because your life
is connected to other lives. Your decisions affect
other people. If you are married, your decisions
affect your spouse. If you have children, your
decisions affect your children. If you lead people,
your decisions affect those who trust your leadership.
If God has given you a ministry, your decisions
can affect people you have never even met. If
God has given you a vision, your character can
influence whether that vision becomes a blessing
or eventually becomes a source of destruction.
So perhaps some of God's correction has been
bigger than you. Perhaps some of his restraint
has been bigger than you. Perhaps some doors
had to close because God saw a family on the
other side of your decision. Perhaps some relationships
had to be exposed because God saw a marriage.
Perhaps some habits had to be confronted because
God saw a ministry. Perhaps some pride had to
be broken because God saw the authority He intended
to place in your hands. Perhaps some impulsiveness
had to be disciplined because God saw decisions
you would someday have the power to make. you
thought God was dealing with today. God was protecting
tomorrow. When God gives someone a vision, there
is God's part, and there is the responsibility
of the person receiving it. God calls. God gives
grace. God empowers. God opens doors. God provides.
God anoints. But the person carrying that assignment
must learn how to steward what God has placed
in their hands. And this is where many people
misunderstand anointing. Anointing does not eliminate
responsibility. A person can be gifted and still
need discipline. A person can be called and still
need correction. A person can have tremendous
spiritual experiences and still need character
development. A person can preach powerfully and
still need to govern their tongue. A person can
pray fervently and still need to govern their
appetite. A person can know scripture and still
need boundaries. A person can carry revelation
and still need accountability. Because the question
is not merely, can God use me? God has used imperfect
people throughout scripture. The deeper question
is, can my character sustain what God wants to
entrust to me? And that brings us to something
we are going to explore deeply throughout this
season. Discipline protects vision. But I want
to make something very clear. When I speak about
self -discipline, I am not talking about becoming
independent from God. I am saying the exact opposite.
Galatians chapter 5 identifies self -control
as fruit of the spirit. Christian discipline
is not simply human willpower. It is a surrendered
person cooperating with the Holy Spirit. There
are battles you cannot win simply by telling
yourself to be stronger. There are appetites
that require spiritual transformation. There
are wounds that require healing. There are patterns
that require the renewing of your mind. There
are temptations from which sometimes the wisest
spiritual decision is not to prove how strong
you are, but to run. We need the Holy Spirit.
But dependence upon the Holy Spirit does not
eliminate our responsibility to discipline ourselves.
Paul understood this. In 1 Corinthians chapter
9, Paul describes athletes exercising self -control
because they are pursuing a prize. Then he says
something remarkable, I discipline my body and
keep it under control. This is Paul, an apostle,
a man carrying extraordinary revelation, a man
who encountered Christ, a man used mightily by
God. And yet Paul understood, what God has entrusted
to me is too valuable for me to live without
discipline. That is maturity. Self -discipline
is learning to tell yourself no, because there
is something greater to which you have already
said yes. I can respond, but I don't have to.
I can say it, but I don't have to. I can go there,
but I don't have to. I can entertain this, but
I don't have to. I can satisfy this appetite,
but I don't have to. Why? Because there is something
greater before me. There is a calling. There
is a family. There is a purpose. There is a relationship
with God. There is a vision. There is something
I refuse to sacrifice for temporary satisfaction.
That is discipline. And sometimes, God allows
pressure because pressure reveals weaknesses
before greater responsibility arrives. Imagine
carrying something extremely valuable in a vessel
with a hidden crack. As long as the vessel remains
empty, the crack may never matter. But once something
valuable is poured into it the weakness becomes
dangerous Sometimes God exposes the crack before
he pours more into the vessel and We become angry
about the exposure But exposure may actually
be mercy God may reveal your anger before greater
authority magnifies it God may confront your
appetite before greater access feeds it God may
expose your need for approval before greater
visibility enslaves you to applause. God may
confront financial irresponsibility before greater
resources arrive. God may expose unhealthy relationships
before they gain access to what He is building
through you. God may teach you to govern your
tongue before He gives your words greater influence,
because whatever remains ungoverned at one level
can become destructive at another. The greater
the assignment, the more dangerous unmanaged
character becomes. Psalm 119 .71 contains one
of those statements that only makes sense after
you have walked with God for some time. It is
good for me that I was afflicted, that I might
learn your statutes. Notice the perspective.
He does not necessarily call the affliction pleasant.
He recognizes what the affliction produced. There
are things you survive. that you would never
volunteer to experience again, but you can still
look back and say, God used it. I wouldn't choose
the betrayal, but God used it to teach me discernment.
I wouldn't choose the disappointment, but God
used it to detach my identity from people's approval.
I wouldn't choose the waiting, but God used it
to develop patience. I wouldn't choose the humiliation,
but God used it to confront pride. I wouldn't
choose the loss. but God used it to show me what
really mattered. I wouldn't choose the valley,
but I meant a version of God in the valley that
I had only heard about on the mountain. And perhaps
that is what the psalmist means. It was good
for me, not because pain is good, not because
betrayal is good, not because injustice is good,
not because suffering itself is holy. but because
God was able to take something painful and produce
something valuable through it. So now we return
to our question. What if the intervention was
about you? What if God was not simply fighting
what was trying to destroy you? What if He was
also confronting something within you that could
eventually destroy what He intended to build
through you? What if the closed door saved you?
What if the delay matured you? What if the rejection
redirected you? What if the exposure protected
you? What if the separation purified your environment?
What if the pressure revealed something you desperately
needed to see? What if the valley developed the
discipline you will need on the mountain? What
if the fire was not evidence that God had abandoned
his purpose? What if the fire was evidence that
God was preparing you for it? This changes the
prayer Instead of only praying God take me out
of this We begin praying God Show me what you
are producing in me through this Instead of only
asking when will this end? We begin asking who
am I becoming? Instead of only asking God to
change our circumstances, we become willing to
say, God, if there is something in me that cannot
go where you are taking me, reveal it. If there
is something weakening my discipline, expose
it. If there is something contaminating my character,
remove it. If there is a relationship influencing
me away from your purpose, give me discernment.
If there is an appetite attempting to govern
me, teach me self -control. If there is pride,
confront it. If there is fear, heal it. If there
is compromise, uncover it. Refine me. That is
a dangerous prayer, because God may answer it.
But perhaps it is also one of the most important
prayers a person carrying purpose can ever pray.
There comes a moment when you stop asking only,
when will this fire end? And you begin asking,
who is God forming me to become through it? Because
when gold comes through the refining process,
the testimony is not simply that the gold survived
the furnace. Something that did not belong was
removed. Something hidden was exposed. Something
valuable became purer. And maybe that is where
some of us are right now. We have been so focused
on surviving the season, that we have not stopped
long enough to recognize the person God is producing
through the season. You survived, but you also
learned. You cried, but you also grew. You lost
some things, but perhaps you also discovered
what you never needed. Some people walked away,
but perhaps their departure revealed relationships
you had been depending upon more than you realized.
Some doors closed, but perhaps those doors were
leading somewhere Your purpose could not afford
to go. Some things were exposed. And although
the exposure hurt, perhaps God allowed you to
see now what could have destroyed much more later.
Because sometimes exposure is intervention. Sometimes
correction is intervention. Sometimes separation
is intervention. Sometimes delay is intervention.
Sometimes the fire itself becomes an instrument
of intervention. And that brings us back to the
question with which we began. What if the intervention
was about you? What if you were asking God to
change what was happening around you while God
was changing what was happening inside you? What
if you were asking God to remove your enemies
while God was removing something from your character?
What if you were asking God to open the door
while God was developing the discipline you would
need once that door opened? What if you were
asking God to enlarge your territory while God
was strengthening your character so your territory
would not eventually destroy you? What if you
were asking God to protect your vision while
God was refining the person who would have to
carry that vision? Maybe the intervention was
never only about the battle. Maybe it was also
about the person standing in the battle. Because
God knows something we often forget, a great
vision carried by an undisciplined person can
become dangerous. A great gift without character
can become destructive. Greater influence without
self -control can magnify weaknesses that once
appeared insignificant. Greater authority without
humility can damage people. Greater access without
boundaries can create opportunities for compromise.
Greater visibility without spiritual maturity
can turn applause into an addiction and perhaps
This is why God sometimes deals with the vessel
before expanding the assignment. You are asking
for more. God may be preparing you to carry more.
You are asking for expansion. God may be building
capacity. You are asking for the promise. God
may be preparing the person who must live inside
that promise. And suddenly the fire begins to
look different. If God has allowed you to walk
through a refining season, don't come out carrying
everything you took into it. Don't carry the
same anger. Don't carry the same uncontrolled
appetite. Don't carry the same dangerous relationships.
Don't carry the same need for approval. Don't
carry the same impulsiveness. Don't carry the
same compromises. Don't carry the same habits.
Don't carry the same inability to say no. Don't
carry the same reactions that repeatedly create
unnecessary battles. Don't simply ask God to
bring you out. Ask Him to bring something out
of you. There are things that cannot accompany
your purpose. There are habits that cannot accompany
your assignment. There are relationships that
cannot have unlimited access to your future.
There are appetites that cannot be permitted
to govern your decisions. There are reactions
that must come under control. There are words
you must learn not to speak. There are places
you must learn not to go. There are invitations
you must learn to decline. There are battles
you must learn not to fight. There are things
you may have the freedom to do, but must develop
the wisdom not to do. Because maturity is not
simply knowing what you can do. Maturity is understanding
what your purpose cannot afford. That is discipline.
Discipline protects what God is building. Self
-discipline is not punishment. Self -discipline
is protection. It is the ability to look at something
you desire and say, you are not worth what I
would have to sacrifice to have you. It is the
ability to control a temporary appetite because
you recognize a permanent assignment. It is the
ability to govern a moment. because you understand
that a moment can affect years. It is the ability
to walk away from something attractive because
you can see something greater ahead. And for
the believer, we do not do this alone. We need
the Holy Spirit. We need His conviction. We need
His strength. We need His wisdom. We need His
power working inside us. Because biblical self
-control is not simply human determination. Self
-control is fruit produced by a life surrendered
to the Spirit of God. But surrender requires
cooperation. God can warn you. You still have
to listen. God can convict you. You still have
to respond. God can reveal the relationship.
You still have to establish the boundary. God
can expose the habit. You still have to stop
feeding it. God can reveal the seed. You still
have to stop watering it. God can show you the
danger. You still have to walk away. And maybe
this is part of what the fire has been teaching
you. There are seasons we ask God to explain
while we are living through them, but sometimes
understanding comes later. One day, you may look
backward and realize, that season saved me. Not
because everything that happened to you was good.
Not because everybody who hurt you was sent by
God. Not because injustice suddenly became righteous.
But because God, in His providence, refused to
waste what happened. He used it. He taught you.
He corrected you. He exposed things. He removed
things. He strengthened things. He redirected
things. He showed you yourself. And somewhere
along the journey, the words of the psalmist
became your testimony. It was good for me that
I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
You may discover that the fire you once begged
God to remove became the classroom where He taught
you how to carry what you had been praying for.
And perhaps then, you will understand. God was
not destroying you. God was developing you. God
was not abandoning the vision. God was protecting
it. God was not finished with you. God was refining
you. So if you are walking through the fire today,
I want you to ask God a different question. Not
only, God, when are you bringing me out? But,
God, what are you bringing out of me? What needs
to change? What needs to die? What needs to grow?
What needs to be confronted? What needs to be
healed? What needs to be disciplined? What needs
to be surrendered? What relationship needs examination?
What seed needs to stop receiving water? What
reaction needs to come under the authority of
the Holy Spirit? What part of my character needs
strengthening before you entrust me with what
is next? God, don't allow me to survive the fire
and miss the refinement. Don't allow me to leave
the valley unchanged. Don't allow me to become
so obsessed with defeating the enemy that I fail
to recognize what you are developing within me.
If you are preparing me for something greater,
then prepare all of me. My heart, my mind, my
appetites, my relationships, my reactions, my
words, my decisions, my character, my discipline,
my private life, my public life. Refine me from
the inside out, because I don't simply want to
arrive at the purpose. I want to become the person
capable of carrying it. And maybe that is the
revelation God wanted us to see all along. You
thought the greatest testimony would be, God
brought me out of the fire. But perhaps an even
greater testimony will be, look at what God brought
out of me through the fire. The fire did not
cancel the purpose. The valley did not destroy
the vision. The delay did not mean God had forgotten
you. God was working. God was shaping. God was
correcting. God was protecting. God was preparing.
You were being refined. And you were not being
refined without reason. You were being refined
for a purpose. This is Pamoja Ministry. And in
our next conversation we are going deeper into
the fire itself. Because the fire does something
that comfort often cannot do. It reveals what
is really there. Conversation two, the fire reveals
what success can hide. Until next time, may God
give us the courage not merely to ask him to
change our circumstances, but to surrender ourselves
to what he desires to change within us.