— Chapter Twenty-Six —
While shopping for a birthday gift at the mall, the brightness of one particular store caught my eye as I walked by. I stopped and looked twice to see if the sun were shining in, even though I knew that stores in the mall had no windows. Every piece of merchandise was polished to perfection. A silver tea service glistened from the center of a glossy cherry table. Sparkling brass candlesticks and exquisite silver bowls added regal splendor to every piece of furniture. As the air circulated, lights from a crystal chandelier reflected on the finishes.
I sauntered around this seemingly majestic setting, gliding my fingertips along the waxed tables, as if an invited guest to a palace. I looked around to see if anyone else was drawn into the store by such brilliance. This place was fit for a king!
After purchasing a gift, I grabbed a quick bite at a fast food place on my way home. Recouping from what seemed to be at least a mile’s walk through the mall, I plopped down on the couch with a book in hand. It had tweaked my interest for no other reason than the title, When God Interrupts…Finding New Life Through Unwanted Change. The subject seemed weighty for such a small book. Settling into a comfortable position, I was curious to read what Craig Barnes had to say.
Chapter titles jumped out as I flipped through the pages. “Abandoned by Success.” “Abandoned by Health.” “Abandoned by Family.” “Abandoned by God.” In chapter three, “A Place You’d Rather Not Go,” Barnes said, “One of the most frustrating things about Jesus is that He just won’t settle down. He is constantly moving us away from the places where we would prefer to stay, like Galilee, and moving us closer to Jerusalem, where we do not want to go.”85
I scanned the Gospels to find out what happened in Galilee, then recorded each event in my journal. God sent the angel Gabriel to announced to Mary, from Nazareth of Galilee, that she was to give birth to the Son of the Most High (see Luke 1:26,32). It was in the villages in Galilee where Jesus taught in the synagogues and everyone praised him (see Luke 4:14). Across the lake from Galilee, Jesus healed the demon-possessed man who was living among tombs (see Luke 8:26). The wedding where Jesus turned water into wine was at Cana, which is in Galilee (see John 2:1-11). Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection…in Galilee (see Matthew 28:10). Things happened in Galilee!
It wasn’t so in Jerusalem. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it” (Luke 13:34 NASB).
To ponder Jerusalem made me uncomfortable, admitting that Galilee was where I’d rather stay. Jerusalem was a hard place. Jesus was stripped of everything in Jerusalem. He completely yielded to the will of His Father in Jerusalem. Jesus died in Jerusalem.
But Jerusalem is also a place of transformation. A new kind of life awaits those who journey there, on the other side of the cross. Jerusalem is where I exchange everything I want for everything He wants for me! While there, I admitted how hot the flames were when I had been publicly humiliated and ashamed as I faced every church member.
Jesus understood, “I’ve also been shamed and humiliated.”86
“Lord, the day my husband called—eight months after he left—I thought our marriage was going to be restored. But after a few hours, he walked away, again.”
“Many people walked away from Me, too,87 Donna. I understand.”
“That New Year’s Eve, Lord…the solitude was deafening!”
“I’ve also felt loneliness. ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’88 Yes, I know.”
While in Jerusalem I wrote down what Peter told his brothers and sisters in Christ who, under the hand of Nero, were used as human torches to light up his garden.
“In this [I] greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, [I] have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of [my] faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, and glory and honor at this revelation of Jesus Christ; and though [I] have not seen Him, [I] love Him, and though [I] do not see Him now, but believe in Him, [I] greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of [my] faith the salvation of [my] soul” (I Peter 1:6-9 NASB).
Jerusalem is the place where God burns away my impurities— those unhealthy habits, unrealistic expectations, and unyielding spirit that get in His way. As I lingered in Jerusalem, the Lord comforted my past hurts. “I heard your every painful cry, Donna. Yes, you were distressed by many trials; but a process was going on. In that fire, your Refiner’s fire, your faith grew stronger as I burned away the impurities that mar your beauty. My heat was not too hot to destroy, but hot enough to be effective.
“I promise that one day you are going to be a part of the celebration of My praise, honor, and glory! One day, even though you have not seen Me, yet you have loved Me and believed in Me, you shall greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible!89 Did you catch My words ‘rejoice,’ ‘joy,’ and ‘inexpressible?’ I gave those words to Peter because there was no other way to adequately describe all that is waiting for those who love Me!
“Donna, I make no apology for the Refiner’s fire. Now your life will shine more brilliantly for Me. I make no apology for lovingly squeezing you in order to produce the fruit from My vine so that others may be refreshed and encouraged. The Refiner’s fire and the crushed fruit have made you fit for the King’s use!”
“But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and fullers’ soap. And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify [Donna] and refine [her] like gold and silver, so that [she] may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness” (MalachI 3:2, 3 NASB).
Copyright 2001, 2004 Donna Christensen
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Published Online by: The Biblical Reader
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