It's not about the destination; it's about who you are becoming in the process.

This season has been an intense season of consecration…that’s just a Christian way of saying, I’ve been going through it LOL. 

Essentially, God puts you through a spiritual boot camp of sorts to make sure you are strong enough to withstand where He is taking you. He puts you through situations that will help you get rid of bad habits, bad thoughts, bad experiences, broken places that still need healing, so that when you get to what He’s got for you, you are actually pure. 

The process is like purifying gold.

According to Google, this is what that process looks like: 

Melt the gold: The impure gold is placed in a crucible and heated to its melting point (1062°C for context, that is more than 10 times hotter than boiling water and hotter than a house fire).

Add flux: A flux, like soda ash, is added to the molten gold. This helps other impurities, such as oxides, to dissolve and form a layer of slag on top.

Oxidize impurities: Air or a strong oxidizing flame is applied to the molten metal. This causes base metals like zinc, lead, and copper to oxidize.

Remove slag: The oxidized impurities rise to the surface and are skimmed off with the slag. Fresh flux is added, and this oxidation and removal process is repeated to further purify the gold.

Cast the gold: Once refined, the molten, purified gold is poured into a mold to cool and solidify. 

The process of consecration is similar 

Melt the gold: God puts you in a situation that is BEYOND uncomfortable, maybe you lose your job, or are faced with a health challenge, or your business takes a financial hit, or your marriage suffers a betrayal

Add flux: In that same season, He adds pressure to another area of your life, which causes all your coping mechanisms to dissolve. So if you are used to running to food, or social media, or a person for comfort, He basically starts removing those options from your life. And all your childhood trauma, unresolved forgiveness, or bitterness start to bubble up to the surface 

Oxidize impurities: He breathes on those broken places, and the true condition of our heart is revealed. He starts to heal the things we have been harboring in our hearts. When a metal is oxidized, it undergoes a chemical reaction where it loses electrons to form a new compound. He is quite literally creating a new version of you.

Remove slag: Those things are then removed from our heart and skimmed off, and this process is repeated again and again until the gold is pure 

Cast the gold: Once it is refined, He gives you a new identity that is solid and you can walk into. 

For me, that looks like a process of almost 6 months, but really the last 3 years of consecration. I said to God at the top of the year, "Lord, I want to trust you," and he basically said Bet…."I'm going to remove or drastically change everything you normally go to for comfort and sustenance so that you will have no other choice but to come to me". The amazing gospel singer Tasha Cobbs calls it being gracefully broken. The idea that God will break you down to purify you; it's painful, but so worth it because you know at the end of it, you will be a new creation. If we are being honest, it's only painful because we don’t like being uncomfortable. What I learned in this season is that I can take my pain to God, even the pain of consecration(growing pains) to Him. 

It's not about the destination, it's about who you’re becoming.

If you lost a job, it's not about God supernaturally providing a new job; it's about seeing God as Jehovah Jireh (provider) in a tangible way and leaning on Him for your sustenance with or without a job 

If you have a health problem, it's not just about being healed, it's about taking your pain to God and Him soothing you even in the midst of the distress 

If you have a relationship issue, it's not about Him supernaturally fixing the situation or avoiding hard conversations; it's about having peace in the middle of the storm, knowing that God will work it out

If you have a clarity issue, it's not about getting clear directions from God before you can make a move; it's about taking scared steps, knowing full well that God is walking with you 

I'll say it again, it's not about the destination, it's about who you’re becoming. 

Pay attention to the kind of fruit being produced when you’re going through something. 

Is it fear, or is it faith? 

Is it control, or is it surrender? 

Is it rushing through to get to the other side, or is patience in the unknown? 

Is it anger or frustration, or peace in the storm? 

Is it avoidance and coping mechanisms, or is it self-control and honesty about your pain? 

The bible says, “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you….NOT “seek ye first the kingdom of God, SO THAT these things will be added unto you.

When you truly seek God first, the destination becomes irrelevant. When you can live your life with an open hand, you know you are becoming. If your hand is open, He can remove anything and add anything to it. That is our posture after the refining process. 

I’ve come to know this God; I’ve come to experience His mercy, to know that all the things were not happening TO me, but they were happening FOR me. 

He changed my perspective on all the things that happened this year. 

Money was tight this year, not because I made a mistake on my taxes and had to pay a crazy fee, but because I had gotten comfortable relying on my bank account for my provisions 

Close relationships were strained this year, not because I was “bad” at communicating my feelings, but because God was teaching me that I was relying too heavily on other people’s opinions of me and not enough on who He said I was 

Business was full of resistance this year, not because I didn’t know what strategy to execute, but because He wanted to take me in a new direction away from my comfort zone and reliance on my expertise. 

There were sooo many more lessons this year that on the surface looked like frustration, but really were lessons for my heart to become whole and healed

I’m ending this year, knowing that I’m still in the process, but now understanding that the process is not punishment. The process is refinement. 

Whatever you speak in the process is what comes to pass….if you keep saying, lord, this process sucks, I don’t know what you’re doing, I’m just too uncomfortable, I just want to get to the other side, all those things will be true. However, if you say, lord, this is uncomfortable, but I trust you, show me, teach me, and be with me, He will come alongside you. I found myself saying “ Lord, I can’t, but I will” meaning, I don’t have the capacity for this, but you do, so I will go on this journey with you. 

Speak life in this process….for the longest time, I used to say things like, I’m just a late bloomer, my anxiety just won’t allow me, im just so overwhelmed, why is my own always different AND God challenged me. He told me, Your path is your path. I’ve called you to what I’ve called you to. Forget about what society says, what your friends think, and what your family is doing. I have called you to be set apart, I knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb. I made you exactly this way. If you trust me, I will show you who you are. 

Although the journey has been incredibly difficult and destabilizing, I’m so honoured that the God of the universe will care enough to walk beside me in this process. It brings tears to my eyes.

If you are in the refining process, or in a season of consecration, or incredibly uncomfortable change, it may not be spiritual warfare; it may just be God taking you on a journey of healing and restoration. Don’t fight it. Lean into it. His plan is much better than yours could ever be. 

Your healing bestie, 

Ibiyemi