and keep your arms in the vehicle at all times!" We have just completed our first week of this internship and looking back at it I am reminded of the myriad of times I found myself sitting on the Scream Machine in Six Flags over Georgia with my youth group when I was in high school. The Scream Machine is an awesome old fashioned, wooden roller coaster. That's how this week has been.....anticipation meeting with the experience, breath taking at times, fun, touch of danger (will you actually live through it?!).
It has been a full week of 50+ hours of class, prayer room, worship, services, fellowship and training. It has been awesome! We are getting so much teaching, much like trying to drink from a fire hydrant and it has been rich.
One of the first classes we had this week was on Psalm 133:1-3 "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there (unity) the Lord commanded the blessing....life forevermore."
God so met me in the midst of this class on several things within this verse and in the ministry of the leadership team to each of us new interns afterwards but I wanted to share one point in particular as I think it will be life to you guys too. God describes the unity of the saints as "precious oil". The reference of the oil running down Aaron's (a priest unto God) beard talks of anointing oil. In Exodus 30:22-25 tells of the instructions God gave Moses for the making of the holy anointing oil. The oil is to be made from quality spices by a skilled perfumer. Those spices have to be ground to powder and are blended together with olive oil, which unifies the spices and presents them in a useful form together. That olive oil speaks of the Holy Spirit that dwells within each of us. The crushing and grinding of the spices? That speaks of the circumstances, places of difficulty......utter breaking in our lives. As we corporate, by the grace of God, with His workings within each of our lives, we become ground to powder (can anyone else relate to this?!) but as that powder is mixed with His Holy Spirit, as we cry out and bring our brokenness to Him, He brings together an altogether, beautiful fragrance.
Is it not in our dealing with other people that much of our crushing, grinding and breaking occurs and yet that is the very process by which we must go through in order for our "spices" to truly release their fragrance and actually prepares the spice to be mixed and blended with others to become a part of the anointing oil. What a paradox! Unity brings a commanded blessing and yet that unity is compared to anointing oil....with the whole process of crushing, often through the means of our brothers and sisters! Aaron is a picture of Jesus. The anointing oil is a blessing that touches Him, as the Head of the church, and then flows to His body, the church. This oil is "precious".
My heart is challenged to lend my heart to His hand in the midst of my difficult places. He is good in all His ways and He knows what He is doing in my life and yours! May we all have the grace to embrace His processes because He really is answering the cry of my heart and yours. Seriously, is He not just doing what I have asked for? To be like Jesus, to be made useful in His hand? Have you prayed something like that too? We asked for this! And He is being faithful, in the fulness of His love for us. So let us rejoice......
Thank you, again, to all of you who are praying for me. It is strength! May you be blessed with more revelation of His heart over you this week. Much love in Him......
