Maybe

“On the left is coffee. It was once beans that were coarsely run through a grinder. Hot water will run loosely over it and brew 10 cups of coffee.

On the right is espresso. It was once beans finely run through a grinder. Just a portion of this will be packed with 30lbs of pressure into a puck at which point the machine will force pressurized hot water through it to make a tiny concentrated shot of espresso. It takes longer to grind. It endures more pressure and heat than the coffee. It makes a lesser amount of end product and yet tastes stronger in its’ 1oz than the entire pot of coffee.

If you’re feeling like trials are taking too long...like life is giving you more pressure than the rest...if you can barely stand the heat.. maybe you’re just espresso. Maybe 1oz of you is stronger than a whole pot of the rest of us.

You got this.”

I saw this posted in a group anonymously this morning and thought it was worth sharing. It’s a concept we’re all familiar with: heat and pressure create diamonds, gold is purified by fire, steel goes through hell in a forge to become stronger, unbreakable, etc., but we rarely let this truth sink in when we’re in the midst of our own purification process.

For believers, we call this process Santification. It’s something we all must go through in order to be used by God. In the most basic sense, it occurs in 3 stages:

1. Initial sanctification: Occurs with justification (when we accept Jesus).

2. Progressive sanctification: Occurs as a believer is being sanctified (as we walk through the trials of life with Jesus and allow Holy Spirit to use them to refine and shape us into something that looks, moves and sounds more like Jesus).

3. Future sanctification: Occurs at death when a believer is glorified and made perfect (we get a new body and are clothed in the righteousness of Christ in the presence of the LORD forever!).

We can allow ourselves to be sanctified (set apart for holy use), by getting in our Bible or more importantly, getting that Bible into us.

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

John 17:17

(Jesus is The Word - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1)

You get “in” Jesus, then you are justified (Stage 1 of sanctification) by grace through faith.

“Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” Romans 3:24

Then, when we start facing life’s trials, tests and temptations, we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through them, cleansing us from the inside out and making us look, move and sound more like Jesus so we can be used by Jesus to accomplish His purposes here on earth (Stage 2):

“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”

2 Timothy 2:21

Finally, after we leave this earth, we are transformed in a moment, and given a glorified body as we enter into the presence of the LORD for all eternity:

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Heaven. That’s the ultimate goal for all of us as followers of The Way (Jesus). So next time you start to feel like the heat is on, or like the pressure is too much, remind yourself of what these situations can produce if you allow them to. Remember steel. Remember diamonds and gold. Remember espresso.