What Is God Stripping From You
There are times in your walk that God will strip you of many things. This isn’t for your destruction, in actuality, this is for your benefit, and His glory! Have you heard of Job in the bible? Read the account of his life and ask yourself if you have ever been that low? What is God trying to strip from you right now? We all go through things, but it is how we respond that defines where we are in our walk. Are we in a place of maturity, or a place of infancy?
Maturity
When God begins to strip us of things, they could be bad, or we could even consider them good, but God knows they are a hindrance. How do we react or respond? Maturity in Christ, says we respond with the fruit of the Spirit. We enter into these situations with faith, love and peace. We have matured when we are stripped of everything and can still praise Him! We are in a place of brokenness, but we respond with praise and worship!
Infancy
If we react instead of respond, there’s a strong chance we are still babes in Christ. Drinking the sincere milk and not ready for the meat. I love babies, but I don’t want to stay a babe in Christ. My heart is to grow, to mature, and to be used in His kingdom. We all have bad days, but as a great friend of mine has said, “as a leader, a christian, we aren’t allowed to have bad days.” That means you can have it, but mature christians deal with it differently.
A Leader
A leader when stripped by God, will submit, surrender, and pray through it. You deal with it at home, or with a trusted mature friend in God. When you go out, you are a witness, when you post you remember you are bought with a price, you are representing the King! So you need to act like it. You will walk, talk, and act different from the world. You will walk in love, anointing, and forgiveness. And even in the wait, the stripping, the potters wheel, you will be a leader with humbleness of heart.
The Stripping
We can all walk through seasons of doubt, delay, fear, death, anger, sadness, but don’t let those emotions define you, your marriage, or your life. Jesus strips us for our own good, even when we think this is an attack of the enemy, remember God allowed satan to test Job. Trusting God is imperative. Learning to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and trusting He is with me, it isn’t always easy, but we will make it! IF we don’t quit, if we keep walking, if we don’t stop.
Keep Walking
In your marriage, when, yes when, you face trials, keep walking. It won’t last forever, it won’t always be this way. God is using the stripping of things that are not good for you as a way to lift from you everything that hinders your marriage, your life. He knows better than us how to do this, and can I tell you, he never does this the way we would like. It is usually something you think God should take away, deal with, or deliver us from, as a sand paper for our rough edges.
End Result
The end result, no matter how long it takes to be stripped, whatever that may be, is peace, joy, and a blessed marriage and life. It’s a life that is clean of all splinters, sharp edges, and unsightly nicks in God’s masterpiece. We will always be a work in progress, but when we submit to God’s chastising, we will walk in joy unspeakable!
Scriptures
Monday: Job 1:20 says, “And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.” As you pray over this scripture remember God allows stripping for our good. Pray you are open to the Lord stripping you of things that hinder.
Tuesday: Job 1:21 says, “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Maturity is blessing the Lord at all times! Pray today for a heart that praises Him in the storm!
Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 3:2 says, “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” I have noticed when I don’t change God allows me to keep going through the same thing. Pray the Lord helps you to hear and obey the word so you can receive the meat of His word!
Thursday: Ephesians 4:15 says, “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” This is the result of growth of a leader, even in the stripping, that you speak the truth in love.
Friday: Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord is.” Trust Him today with all you are going through, cry out, pray, and ask Him to help you to trust! He will do it!
Saturday: Psalms 23:4 says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” This scripture says walk through, so keep walking, don’t give up and stop. He is with us and will comfort us!! Pray today for His comfort!
Sunday: Job 42:10 says, “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” The stripping won’t last forever, and you will come out. Pray for patience as you wait for your deliverance! Job got back double!
Prayer
Our prayer for you today, is that while you walk through a valley of stripping, you keep your eyes on the one who is stripping you. To trust Him, and know He is doing it for your benefit. Take time to reflect on where you were a year ago, 5 years ago, and believe and trust that Jesus is taking you somewhere better. We are not our own, so how can we question the one who made us? Praying you take time today to pray for your marriage and ask God to strip you of anything that is hindering your marriage, or your walk with Him. You are precious in His sight and He loves you enough to not leave you the way He found you!!! In Jesus name!
Contact
Please feel free to contact us at janene@happilyevermarried.org and check out and share our other blog posts at http://happilyevermarried.org Thank you for investing in your marriage, and you too can have a happilyevermarried!!