Threshing Floor Tabernacle

“Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him.” (Ps 105:19)

This was the Word concerning the life of Joseph, Jacob’s son by Rachel, but the same can be said about the people of God. From the time that the word from God to Joseph was given, that word tried (tested, proved, refined) him. You’re being tried even now because your set time is here – Your promotion is near. God has not set us up for failure if we are His. For Joseph it was through 13 years of harsh treatment, slavery, deception, and prison that the word of God tried, tested, proved, and refined him in preparation to become second in command under Pharaoh.

Psalm 12:6 says, “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times”. As silver is refined in fire to make it pure and genuine, the word from God, already pure, comes to purify our hearts and lives to reflect the glory and power of Jesus. Jeremiah said it was like fire shut up in his bones and he could not contain it. The testing and proving is part of the development and preparations. The tests are not to fail you but to prove you and root out of you those things that could/will cause you to fail!

On Thursday, we were out fishing and we noticed a small beaver grabbing branches and storing them in one of the boating docks. As the beaver continued traversing over the area we were in, I was at awe that it continued to go right back to the same boating dock without getting confused with all the other ones. I asked Deacon Aquino, “what school did they go to in order to learn that (jokingly)?” The beaver is preparing for what is to come. Instinct drives him/her, probably her. Even with Deacon Aquino and Brother Randy picking at the beaver, it didn’t get distracted nor forget the place or abandon the work (sorry guys J). No more fishin’ with Pastor, check! Something is about to happen and the beaver is preparing for it. Learn from the beaver.

Later that evening, I watched one of the greatest games of basketball that I have seen since Jordan. It was the Spurs vs the Cavaliers. I won’t bore you with all the details but if you saw it you can bear witness. Both teams played exceptionally well but it was a “Kyrie Irving” night. He went for 57 points but it was the way the points were scored and the timing of them being scored. With only 3 seconds on the clock and the Cavaliers down by three, they put the ball in Kyrie’s hands for the final shot and he hit the three-pointer and sent the game into overtime. In overtime, the Cavaliers prevailed. Great games like that are what make sports so popular.

What makes for great games are not the games themselves but the practice that goes on beforehand, behind the scene. What are you doing behind the scenes? Failure in the Kingdom is not an option for you. This is not a game, it’s reality!