Tonight at our prayer time the Lord really moved on some people to pray to be "crushed" and to have everything removed that should not be in their hearts. This may seem like a harsh prayer at first, but in reality it is a very beautiful and courageous prayer. One that will reap a tremendous amount of fruit, though it may be a catalyst for a time of hardship. It's a prayer that the Lord takes seriously.
A season for a threshing floor... there are seasons in our lives where we have to allow God to take down the walls and the "scaly" outer part so that He can get to the good stuff. http://en.wikipedia.org/wi
It's a laborious and painful process, but during this time the Lord reveals himself as the great comforter. Through the beatings, the threshing, the pounding, the uprooting, the crushing...He is there. He is helping you along and freeing you.
I get an image of an oak tree that has vines around it--suffocating it. The vines have so deceptively woven their way into the branches of the tree, so much so that the tree believes that the vines are a part of it. The Lord begins to rip these vines out and the tree finds it to be painful. These vines that so "protected" the tree and even gave it identity had also been suffocating it, unbeknownst to the tree. So when the Lord starts ripping away, the tree finds it difficult to let go...and there is a grievance. There is a sort of loss. But as the tree begins to realize its freedom, the pain lessens. The tree begins to breathe fresh air and to see things differently. The tree realizes for the first time that those vines were really a source of death and not life. In the same way, we harbor things in our hearts that we think give us life but in reality they bring death. We have to let the Lord take them. He is the true provider of life. When we allow Him to rip out the vines, we begin to breathe anew and experience a healing and freedom never imagined.
I've also found that during the desert times, the Oak sends its roots down deeper in search for the water, and likewise, we are oaks of righteousness and during the desert we learn to send our roots deeper in search for the water of life. During this process we grow stronger and our foundation becomes even greater. In the desert our hunger for the Lord intensifies and we realize our desperate need for Him. When we are able to humble ourselves, in our weakness He is strong.
We all endure a breaking of some sort....the key is to make sure and set the bone properly so that it heals properly. When the bone is set properly then as it heals, the new fibers are actually growing back stronger than the original bone (or so a nurse once told me). After a brake and a healing, we are stronger and have a greater testimony to share.
Anyway, these are just a few thoughts....
Here is a short documentary on the traditional Threshing Floor:
http://youtube.com/watch?v
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