For most people, refinement is not a practice one chooses to participate in willfully. However, it is necessary for our spiritual development, especially in this season of “Increasing Our Faith.”
The idea of increasing our faith suggests that our previous levels of faith will not suffice in this season. It infers a change in our beliefs and trust in God needs to happen. Refinement is one of the means in which we can change our beliefs and learn to trust in God more.
Some definitions of refinement that I like are:
- The process of removing impurities or unwanted elements from a substance.
- The improvement or clarification of something by the making of small changes.
You may have noticed, or perhaps are currently experiencing, some forms of refinement in your life on an individual level in this season. Whether it’s in your personal, professional, financial, or relational aspects of your life; God may be bringing you through a process of removing the impurities or unwanted things in your life that are hindering your faith.
From the perspective of a collective, I can see how God uses something as simple as attending a Sunday Celebration to make small changes in our life that refine us to live out Matthew 22:36-39 (Greatest Commandment); be more and more like Jesus and increase our faith.
For example, when we make the choice to come to church, sing songs we did not pick, listen to a sermon that we don’t 100% agree with, volunteer and give our time, talents and treasures after a long work week and having to pay our bills; we are participating in refinement.
These small acts of submission and surrender to the Father have the potential to refine our spirit. They come with tension and discomfort as is included with most change but it is required for the process.
Choosing God’s ways over our own is an act of worship to our Heavenly Father. It is a response of love to our Lord which extends to those around us. The process is building our trust in God with every small step we take toward the Father, which results in an increase of faith.
As we align and realign ourselves with the Father daily, my prayer is that we would open our hearts up to Him in the process of refinement and that God would open our eyes to see the subtle changes within our spirit, soul, and body as we move forward in this season of increasing our faith.