Two Phases to God’s Glory

New starts. We all want them, don’t we? We love the thought of wiping away the old and simply pressing the reset button. Often time that is until it is actually happening. 

When it settles in what this means and looks like, and you start to see the signs of such progress, suddenly fear and doubt hit you like they have never before. Wishful thinking leads to being hopeful that everything will just fall into place. You think that resetting means leaving out all the junk and only experiencing the good from here on forward. It’s an illusion and one that will come crashing down on you very fast. 

Soon you begin to realize the price that comes with pressing that reset button. Who would have thought? You were too busy dreaming up the new life instead of giving room to such realities. 

Is there something wrong with your dreams? Not at all, they are needed to make it through the rest. But don’t be shocked if you find yourself questioning even those as you transition from what once was to the unfamiliar of what might be. And only God’s dreams will survive truly the test of time in this process. Everything else gets lost and flushed away in the open sea.

My Recent Journey

Over the last couple of months, I went from pillar to post. Looking back I can see how much God was in this process, furthermore how much He was in control. But I only gained this perspective now, as I am finding my feet on more solid ground again. 

In the ‘between’ stage, I didn’t know what exactly had happened. I wondered if I had prayed the wrong prayers – and dare I say it – perhaps didn’t hear the Lord correctly?! In my 17 years of being in full-time ministry, I have faced many valleys and seen many mountain tops. However, this was and has been different from anything I experienced before. No wonder I could not wrap my mind around it. This ride had become faster, wilder and more intense than anything before. Yet one thing stayed the same; God stayed faithful and good! His hand kept me steady. Somewhat… as steady as one can go on such a path.

Having left the safe haven I once was in, the choppy sea surrounding me wasn’t gentle or cared how I felt about it. Wave after wave came, increasingly getting bigger than the previous one. But God led me steadily forward, even though I felt some hits pushed me back further than I had ever felt before. 

I am not sharing this just to share about me, but I am sharing this because I know there are many who find themselves in this same boat right now. You are reading this and wondering what happened to you. You are asking for clarification from the Lord and crying out in despair for some sign or breakthrough. It’s been tough. It’s been raw. And it has brought things out in you that you weren’t even aware were there or were still there. 

I want you to realize this: God is in control. Yes, He knows exactly how much you can handle and where you are heading. It might not seem like that to you, but this is the one reality you can hold on to! 

Two Phases to Seeing/Becoming the New

In prayer, the Lord showed me in a vision a row of people lined up like vessels before His throne. They represented people that had prayed for the new, for increase and for the Lord to transform them to be more like Him. They then experienced what I described above. Due to the intensity of this, it left them shaken, doubting and wondering. 

As the vision progressed I saw how a stream of water came over them. It poured over them and through them. It was gentle at times and more intense at others, similar to a water tap that’s been opened to different strengths of flows.

First Phase – Cleaning, Healing and Reshaping

The main part of this vision was that the water poured through these vessels. They weren’t filled up by it. I asked the Lord what this meant and He shared with me that this is the first phase that is necessary before He can fill them with the new. This is a cleaning process to ensure the vessel is clean from the inside and the outside. To ensure there are no cracks in the clay and if there are, to soften them and smooth them out. 

This is a process of being cleaned out, healed and restored – internally and externally. It’s a process of being enlarged and for old, dry pieces and muck to be removed from the vessel. 

In some instances, I saw the Lord moving vessels between water baths and hot furnaces. As the clay got soft and pliable He was remolding certain parts and strengthening the new shape in the fire. He did that a couple of times over, until the vessel looked nothing like the original shape. 

But eventually, they were lined up for the real outpour. And He showed me that what He uses for the outpour in the second phase will stay and not flow through anymore. It will stick and fill up, and it will continuously flow and be filled even as the vessels get used to being poured out.

Second Phase – The Oil of God 

As I looked closer I could see the ‘water’ now looked like oil. The stream looked golden in color and it was thick and heavy, silky and rich. It was the Glory of God and it will fill the vessels and never run dry again. It will be seen on and through them. What they look like and what they carry will contain His Glory and it’s going to be by far greater than what they had ever seen or carried before. 

The interpretation is simple. Let the transformation God wants to take you through do its work in you. Lose sight of everything but Him. Allow Him to reshape your mind, your heart and your actions. Don’t hold on to the old and don’t be afraid of being nothing for a while – or very little – in the process. Don’t fear losing it all, because if you let go you will gain everything. But if you hold on to the little you think was so precious in your sight you will lose the immense privilege and opportunity to be reshaped into a great vessel of His power and glory. 

It will cost you. You can count on it. There is no need to withhold that truth from you, but it will be worth it. When the filling up begins to take place you will be glad you yielded to the first process, regardless of how difficult it seemed to go through. Instead, you will thank Him for His Grace of not giving up on and withholding phase one!