My identity, My refuge, My shelter

It Felt Like a Storm

I was dealing with a health issue that left me frightened and exhausted. I was in pain, worried about what was happening to my body, and rushing to the clinic because I genuinely felt unwell.

While trying to navigate that, I missed an important work meeting. What followed felt like a chain reaction. And when I returned to work, recovering and trying to regain my footing, I was met with unexpected changes...and reactions

Of course, I am just a hireling. I cannot react to every decision that is made around me. I can only continue to do my work faithfully and say, "Thank You, Lord, for all that You are doing, even when I do not understand it."

To be honest, it felt as though everything was happening against me. I tried to see things from their perspective. I understood their reasons behind the decisions. I chose understanding over resentment. Yet deep inside, I was hurting.

• I could not share it with my spouse because I did not want to burden him further. Had it been a few years back, I am sure, I would have told him knowing what his decision would be, 
• I could not share it with a co-worker either.

So I carried it quietly. Every morning, and evening on my drive to work and back home, I cried till my throat hurt. My car became the one place where I could break down, release my emotions, pray, vent, and gather the strength to walk into another day.But somewhere in those difficult days, God began to teach me something.

• Circumstances may shift.
• People may make decisions.
• Situations may change overnight.
• But God remains unchanged.

And I realised something else: my family is far more important than any position, title, office, or workplace recognition.

• Jobs come and go.
• People come and go.
• Seasons come and go.
• But the people waiting for me at home are a gift from God that I must never take for granted.

My security must not be found in a job.
My peace must not be found in people's opinions.
My worth must not be measured by how included, valued, or recognised I feel in a particular season.
My future will not be determined by a difficult week.

God sees what others do not see.

He knows the battles we fight silently, the tears we cry privately, and the fears we hide behind our smiles.

He sees the employee who keeps showing up....

• The mother who keeps caring.
• The wife who keeps loving.
• The believer who keeps trusting even when nothing makes sense.
• What looked like an attack may become a testimony.

What feels like uncertainty today may become the very path God uses to lead me into something better tomorrow.

So I choose faith over fear.
I choose trust over anxiety.
I choose gratitude over bitterness.

And I choose to believe that no situation is bigger than the God who holds my life in His hands.

Perhaps this season is not happening to me.

Perhaps God is working through it, shaping me, strengthening me, and reminding me that my identity has never been in anything, but in Him.

And for that, I will keep trusting.

One day at a time... 

 A beautiful call, to walk with people 
To share their tears, to lift a prayer, to stand with hope when none is there.
Oh the joy our hearts can feel when God begins to move and heal
When prayers are answered, hope is found, and broken lives turn back around.

When sickness fades and strength returns, when peace replaces all that burns.
When families once in pain and strife find love, and laughter fills their life.
When children lost in fear or night begin to see a future bright.
These moments make the calling true a sacred path we’re glad to pursue.

For many nights on bended knee we fight in prayer for those we see.
For every home, for every child,for hearts once broken, lost, or wild.
Yet there are things few eyes can see, the quiet cost of ministry.
When some feel hurt or drift away, or feel forgotten along the way.

We hear their pain, we hold it near, yet carry silent burdens here.
Behind each sermon, prayer, and song are days that stretch our hearts so long.

And sometimes our most tender plea is whispered soft in secrecy
Lord, our children too may feel the pain, yet in Your hands they will remain.
Though tears may fall and hearts feel sore, we trust You’ll make them stronger, more and more.

For though this road brings wounds at times, it’s still a path of grace divine.
Through every joy and every call, God’s faithful hand still holds us all.

Many want the OIL...but run when the crushing begins, when isolation stretches long, when consecration costs comfort.
Yes, Jesus paid the ultimate price.
But your flesh still resists surrender.

So every time you say no to it,
it will feel like a sacrifice.
That is the point.
Oil is not automatic. It is produced.

The olive gives up something of itself.
Oil exists because something was pressed, crushed, and yielded.

The oil does not flow without pressure.
The calling does not mature without solitude.
And obedience will always cost the flesh
before it feeds the spirit.

Refining happens in isolation.
Furnaces are enclosed.
Heat is intentional.

Afflictions are also known as one of the environments where God calls and prepares people.

This is consecration through pressure.
Not everyone is chosen for the oil.
Only those willing to stay under the pressure

WHY “CRUSHING” ?
It involves surrender, yielding, and the breaking of the flesh, pride, self-reliance, and will. Scripture uses strong language for this process throughout.

• Psalm 34:18 says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.

• Psalm 51:17 speaks of a broken and contrite heart God will not despise.

• Isaiah 53:10 says it pleased the Lord to crush Him, speaking prophetically of Christ.

• Judges 6 shows Gideon pressed in hiding before being called.

• Joseph was pressed through betrayal, prison, and isolation before elevation.

• Jesus Himself was pressed in Gethsemane, literally meaning oil press.

The olive imagery is biblical, even beyond metaphor. Oil required pressure. The point is not that believers are destroyed, but that something of the self must give way so the Spirit can flow.

So yes, we are not crushed in defeat or hopelessness. But we are pressed, broken, humbled, refined, and conformed. That is the consecration I am pointing to.

•

Job 13:15 (AMP)

“Even if He kills me, I will hope in Him;

Nevertheless, I will argue my ways before Him.”

1 Peter 4:12 (AMP)

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test you, as though something strange or unusual were happening to you.”

Isaiah 48:10 (AMP)

“Listen carefully, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested and chosen you in the furnace of affliction.”

#anointed #minister #ministry #church #officialmarliz

IMAGE CREATION: Me

MODEL IN IMAGE: Me 

INSPIRATION: God