"Deeper Identification in the Fire" By Traci Carson

Life is never easy. God never said it was. We all have our ups and downs. I know personally I’ve have walked so closely with the Lord that I couldn’t see myself being anywhere or doing anything outside of His leading. I knew His voice. I felt His very breath upon my face, His touch so gentle across my heart that no one, nothing, no place could take me from Him.

The next thing I knew I couldn’t hear Him, and His presence seemingly diminished. I would find myself saying, “Lord, where are You??... ”

During this time of what seems to be a place of abandonment, we may find ourselves struggling with rejection, lies, and misunderstandings. The more we seek approval from others, the more we find ourselves slapped to the curb.

This experience may not at all be the result of sin in our lives, or even a lack of spiritual growth. In fact 1 Peter 4:12 tells us not to think it strange concerning the fiery trials we go through. The question is… “What will we do when going through these fiery times?”

A few years ago I was taken in the Spirit to the lake of fire. It was there that I was attempting to drown satan, but could not. I was exhausted!! Suddenly, Jesus appeared beside me. He took me over to a dock where we sat dangling our feet in the lake of fire. Jesus then began to speak to my spirit. I remember His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear His voice in the natural. As He spoke, my spirit understood every word. He proceeded instructing me in how to battle, and as He was doing this I was dipping my hands in the lake of fire and washing myself. I was filled with an inner joy and peace as I intensely listened to my Lord. I washed myself in the Fire (His Glory), and looked over at satan and saw him as a scrawny and pathetically terrified being, struggling to stay atop of the lake of fire, but all the while going down, down, down within the flames.

God’s nature is produced in the fire. His fire is a symbol of His glory, and of His purifying and testing. Only that which can stand the test of His Word will survive (Ps.105:19).

“That the trial of your faith being much more precious than gold that perished, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet.1:7)

What I believe the Lord was showing me in the above experience was while my attention was on the adversary during my trials I was expending all my energy towards his wiles and ploys. When I gave all my attention to my Lord He was able to instruct me spiritually. In the natural I was not able to hear Him, it was only by the spirit that I understood that the lake of fire was God’s glory so awesomely powerful that satan could not withstand it. I basked in His Fire (Glory), and the more I basked in His glory, the smaller satan became. I thought, “Is this the one who has made the earth tremble, who has shook kingdoms, who has made the world as a wilderness and destroyed cities…?” (Is.14:13-17)

We may not understand why God allows things to happen in our lives, or why He waits so long to respond on our behalf, but we can be sure that all He allows, and all does agrees with all He is.

Now please don’t misunderstand me, there is warfare and God expects us to stand up and fight the good fight of faith. He has given us weapons for our warfare (Eph.6:10-18), and by His Spirit we learn how to war in the spirit and not the flesh. In my experience with the Lord He was instructing me how to fight in the Spirit and not the flesh. What He was instructing me to do was spend time in His presence, basking in His glory, and resting in Who He is.

Our part is pressing into Him even in spite of our circumstances. Unless we learn to walk through the darkness (lonely, misunderstood, rejected, etc.) we will never learn to drink from the cup of the Spirit from within.

“And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places. That you may know that I, the Lord, who call you by your name, am the God of Israel.” (Is.45:3)

During times of darkness we can’t see the path in front of us. This is where God desires us to depend on Him totally and completely. From the beginning to the end He sees our path. He works out of us a dependency upon ourselves and others, and works into us a “deeper Identification” with Him.

Let’s not misjudge God or the men of God because of our circumstances. In Exodus Chapter six, we see where the children of Israel would not listen to Moses because of the anguish and cruel bondage that was put upon them. They blamed Moses for the hard labor, and here it was God the whole time testing their hearts. The only time they truly worshiped God was when He did signs and wonders through Moses. Then they believed in Moses as Gods vessel. But the moment hard times came they looked for other leaders and other gods.

To become the great warriors God has called us to be, we must worship God in the fire, the fire is for burning all that is not of Him out of us, and refining us into gold where we can see the reflection of Jesus Himself. It was in this place that Apostle Paul was finally able to say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ in me” (Gal.2:20). Is this not our goal?

- Traci Carson

www.voiceofthetrumpet.org