SEE, I HAVE REFINED YOU, THOUGH NOT AS SILVER; I HAVE TESTED YOU IN THE FURNACE OF AFFLICTION
(Isaiah 48:10).

I have a certain attitude towards emotional pain that helps me to cope with it.  When I have emotional pain, I deal with it by comparing it with something materialistic—something physical that helps me to identify it.  I become aware of its attributes, its intensity, and its resemblance to something else I know.

Sometimes, I identify my emotional pain as a distortion in my heart.  Other times, it feels like a heavy rock at the bottom of my heart.  Often, it feels like a stabbing knife that is sunk deeply into the tender tissues of my heart.  All of these images help me to identify the darkness that makes me feel so unloved and unlovable, so unaccepted and unacceptable, and so unworthy and unwanted.

After I have identified and named the pain, I invite the Presence and Participation of the Lord Jesus into each of these dark spots in my heart.

NOTHING IN ALL CREATION IS HIDDEN FROM GOD’S SIGHT. EVERYTHING IS UNCOVERED AND LAID BARE BEFORE THE EYES OF HIM TO WHOM WE MUST GIVE ACCOUNT
(Hebrews 4:13).

Child, when you submit your emotional pain to Me, Jesus, the Son of God, I will remove the rock of hopelessness that sits at the bottom of your heart.  It is I who will pull out the knife of non-acceptance that causes the sharp pain of jealousy in your heart.  I am the One who will erase the distortion that causes you to stumble in confusion. I will do this, because nothing in creation is hidden from My sight…not even the pain that hides in the dark corners of your heart.

Know that each time you lay an image of emotional pain at Mt feet, I will turn My Light on in your heart.  Soon, everywhere in your heart, My Light will shine.  Then, your darkness will disappear, and you will be able to say, “I have been tested and refined in the furnace of affliction.”

BUT THANKS BE TO GOD, WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
(1 Corinthians 15:57).

How would you describe the pain in YOUR heart? After you have identified it, is there anything that is hindering you from giving it to God?

PRAYER: God of Glory, how good it is to know that nothing in all creation is hidden from Your sight. How encouraged I am to know that everything is uncovered and laid bare before Your eyes, even the deepest, darkest pain in the most hidden corners of my heart. I invite Your Presence and Participation into the stabbing pain of jealousy that fills me with torment, into the deep dungeons of despair that leaves me hopeless and helpless, and into the perplexing confusion that causes me to stumble around in darkness. May I be refined when I am tested in the furnace of affliction.