The threshing floor

Have you ever thought… if God loves me, then why do I have to go through difficulties?

God has made us wonderful promises “I will cause my people and their homes around my holy hill to be a blessing. And I will send showers, showers of blessings, which will come just when they are needed.” (Ezekiel 34:26)  “The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens to bless all the work you do”. (Deuteronomy 28:12) 

Have you noticed that many times when we read in the Bible about God’s blessings, due season and obedience are mentioned right beside them?  And most of the time that perfect timing comes as we pass through hard things.  

God doesn’t want us to take shortcuts when it comes to growing, learning and letting go of unnecessary loads.  He is serious about teaching us, purifying us and taking us step by step closer to Him.

The other day I attended a workshop organized by Out Of Darkness, a nonprofit organization that runs a 24/7 hotline to rescue women who are being trafficked.  One of the guest speakers talked about the “threshing floor season” in such a beautiful way that easily explained how God lovingly purifies us so we can be closer to Him. 

Threshing in the Bible times was done during harvest season, when it was time to remove the grain from the husk. The threshing floor was a circular flat area where mules or oxen pulling a special sled would pass over and over the sheaves. After this, the stalks and the grains were thrown into the air so the wind would blow the unwanted chaff and only the good kernels would remain at the threshing floor. 

This is a great way to describe the purifying process that we go through, which many times includes painful situations that help us get rid of the things we don’t need. 

The threshing floor is a place of crushing, sorting and at the same time of abundance and blessing.

“David replied, ‘I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the Lord there, so that the Lord will stop the plague.’ ‘Take it my lord, and use it as you wish,’ Araunah said to David…But the king replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the Lord my God that have cost me nothing.’” (2 Samuel 24:21-24) Don’t you love that answer?  Many times we want the blessing but we are not so sure about the sacrifice.  We don’t want to wait, change our attitude, face the past or give up things that we should.  We just want things to be better quick; a miracle that happens instantaneously. 

The threshing floor bought by David became later the place where king Solomon built the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.  So the place of humbling sacrifice became the place where the glory of God shone.  

The closer we want to be to God the more we need to let Him mold us, because there is too much selfishness in us and too many distractions that need to be taken away, separated and blown in the wind.

The promises of God are real and they are for each of us, and the perfect time always comes, and as we wait God refines us so we can be closer to Him and He can use us to help others.  “In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay.  The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use.  If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for his purpose.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21)