This morning God showed me something strange. A woman appeared. She was very thin, and was looking around her as though stunned. She walked around in a daze. He clothes were smoking-- grey clouds were rising from them. Then I saw a man appear. He looked the same. Emaciated, dazed, and his clothes were smoking also.
While I was thinking about this vision, Zechariah 3:1-4 came to mind:
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan, standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick, plucked from the fire?"
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes."
Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
Some of us are in the fire right now. One of my friends has breast cancer and facing a double mastectomy. Another just finished that procedure. A new friend just got diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, the same deadly cancer I was treated for last year. These friends of mine are in the fire right now-- as are some of you, whose stories I don't know.
But in this vision, this woman and this man had come out of the fire. They had come out of this experience, but they were still in shock. Their clothes were still smoking, and their haggard appearance suggested a long period of lean times proceeded the fire. Here they were, walking around like holocaust survivors liberated from a death camp. Yet they were alive.
As I thought about the Zachariah passage, I wondered why the high priest's clothes were filthy. And then it hit me-- because he had been through the fire. The passage continues on:
Then I said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of the LORD stood by.
Then the angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua: "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, an I will give you a place among those standing here."
What if-- hear me out-- what if your fire is not a punishment fire, but a refining fire, preparing you for greater service? Zechariah 13: 8-9 reads:
"In the whole land," declares the LORD,
"two thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one third will be left in it.
This third I will bring into the fire;
I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.
They will call on my name, and I will answer them;
I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.' "
So maybe you are in a lean time, in the fire, or just came out of it and are still reeling. May God be with you and hold your hand, guiding you safely to the other side.
And while you're walking, be on the lookout for fellow smokers-- those plucked from the fire still smelling of smoke. Offer them a helping hand. Or a hug. Or whatever.
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