There are many who aspire to do great things. They pray and ask the Lord to bless them in certain areas of their life, they ask Him for promotion and when they get there, when they receive what they ask for, they are unable to maintain it and things fall apart; business, marriage, wealth and more.
It is critical to know that regardless of how talented, successful or knowledgeable a person may be, they will never experience true peace or prosperity without being purged.
We see presidents, prime ministers, and stars rise to fame and crash to nothing in a moment. Some politicians, God has given them great favor, but because they did not allow Him to purge them, they find themselves in extremely embarrassing situations and in the midst of a downfall.
In the Bible, God carried people through many things – many adversities, and he used those situations to purge them, and He did so in order to bring purity so that they could fulfill their purpose. He brought His own special people – the Children of Israel – through the wilderness to purge them before allowing them to enter the Promised Land. He wanted to purge them of ingratitude, impatience, rebellion, selfishness, impoliteness, and the tendency to talk down to others or correct those over them publicly.
Purging In The Organization
I have worked in the secular arena for many years and still counsel both Christians and non-Christians, and the number one cry is the way in which they are treated by those over them. Oftentimes when people leave an organization, it has very little to do with the money; it is about the treatment they received on the human level.
We are going to see many long-standing organizations crash suddenly, and many will try to come with different reasons why it has happened without looking at the qualitative aspect; that is the fruit they bore. In other words, how they treated the human resources they had under their charge leaves much to be desired and that includes senior managers, supervisors and business owners. Clearly, a person’s promotion needs to be tied to their genuine attitude toward their staff/workers.
Divorce and Relationships
Women
There is a song by international reggae artist Chaka Demus – “Pretty Face and Bad Character”. This is reality. No man will stay with any woman for long, regardless of how beautiful, or how educated she is, if her character is dirty. Vashti is such an example of this. (Esther 1). Because of her attitude and character, she lost the crown. Many will be losing their crown in this season. What people are looking for is inner beauty. The fruit of the Spirit is critical. Bad attitudes and bad character kill a relationship.
If we look on the life of Esther on the other hand, a serious purification and purging process had to take place before the important office could be bestowed upon her. This had to be so in order to remove from her, anything that would bring her in the same path Vashti took. The king doesn’t want a queen who would talk down to him in public, disrespect him publicly, jump on twitter to publicize their private business or run to her girlfriend in the neighborhood (or any other place) to discuss everything that is going on in the palace. He needs someone that his heart can trust safely. (Proverbs 31: 11)
Men
Men must function in the Fruit of the Spirit and let God purge them of the works of the flesh. (Galatians 5: 22 – 24). Most men lack self-control and function in pride, arrogance and are impatient and short-tempered. Their actions have brought many low, destroyed their own families and caused great hurt.
The very same person that they started out with, they will push aside to start out with someone new when they feel they have it all. They will disrespect their union and destroy their children. Sadly, many of them are people who are praised in society by others and who are used as role models by others.
Malachi 3: 3 – 4, He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years.”
Without purging and purification, we cannot give the perfect sacrifice God wants. When a person is purged by the Lord to the point of purity, then they will be able to bear good fruit that will give Him glory – which is the perfect sacrifice – and there will be great growth within the organization.
You and your organization may be struggling, maybe losing clients, members. It is critical to check what fruit you are producing.
Embrace the purging and purifying so that you can yield good fruit and fulfill your purpose.