Refine Me

I'm not sure where you are on your Road to Here.  Some of us might be at various stages in the adoption process and the waiting is seeming like an eternity.  Some of us might be struggling with loneliness and finding a place to fit in.  Some of us might be trying to figure out what is the next step in our journey.  Some of us might be growing weary in our marriages.  Some of us might feel like we've been walking in the valley for a long time.  Wherever you are and whatever it is that you are facing, it is my prayer that together, we will ask the Lord to truly refine us.  Not only do we need to ask the Lord to refine us but we need to be open to being refined.

What does it mean to be refined?  According to dictionary.com, refine is define as:
Re·fine

1. to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities.

2. to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured.

3. to bring to a finer state or form by purifying.

4. to make more fine, subtle, or precise: to refine one's writing style.

One of my favorite artist, Travis Cottrell, has released a song on his most recent album called Refine Me. It has become my "theme song". With permission from Travis's team, I wanted to share the lyrics with you. I highly recommend that you download this song from iTunes or from wherever you purchase your music. If you can, listen to it before you read the rest of my post.  If you can't download it - take a minute to click on this link and listen to it on Youtube.com

Refine Me - Travis Cottrell

Your so patient with me
Faithful and sure
To make me into something better
You know prayers that I've prayed
The tears that I've cried

Lord you know my heart's desire
Oh, to know You
To be more like You

Do what You need to
Help me to trust You
Even if Your love brings me suff'ring
Help me to hold on
To know that You're strong enough to see me through completely

Refine me

Your joy will be my strength
while I'm in these flames
I'm becoming Your reflection
Your kindness will be my song
Though I'm not alone,
Your presence is my consolation

Oh, to know you
I'm longing for you

Do what you need to
Help me to trust you
Even if Your love brings me suff'ring
Help me to hold on
To know that You're strong
Enough to see me through completely

Refine me
Oh God! My God!
Refine me
Oh God! Merciful God!

All for Your glory,
All for my good
To know Your love much deeper
Than I thought I ever could

Refine me, Oh!

Do what You need to
Help me to trust You
Even if Your love brings me suff'ring
Help me to hold on
To know that you're strong
Enough to see me through completely

Refine me,
Oh God! My God! Please!
Refine me,
Oh God! Merciful God!

Your so patient with me
Faithful and sure
To make me into something better.

If you are anything like me, I tend to ask the Lord for something and then expect him to do it for me right away and in the way that I seem is best.  I don't like to wait.  I'm not always a patient person.   I want to get things done and get them done right away. This song helped me to see that it is not about what I think I want or need but that it truly needs to be about what God wants for my life.  As I listen to this song on repeat 20 times a day, it is these lyrics that always stop me and make me think...

Do what You need to

Help me to trust You

Even if Your love brings me suff'ring

Help me to hold on

To know that You're strong

Enough to see me through completely

Do I really trust the Lord enough to be open to whatever He wants to do in my life?  For my friends in the adoption process, this journey is long.  The waiting is hard.  The Lord is doing a work in your life and He is not done working yet. No one said this journey would be easy.  It is not easy.  It is hard.  It is draining.  Be patient.  Trust His timing.  Even when we don't know what is happening and why things are taking so long - we have to trust that the Lord isn't done doing what He needs to in your life and in the life of the child coming into your home.

This is not only for my friends in the adoption process but for all of us, no matter what we are going through.  May we each take some time to relect on what the Lord is desiring to do in us and are we being open to the refining that He is trying to do? 

So, go listen to the song again and re-read the lyrics.  Maybe this can be a step that we take in the right direction of learning to be patient, trusting the Lord, and being open to being refined into something much better than we are today.  Sometimes it is the "waiting moments" of our lives where the most refining can take place.