Okay, I admit it: I’m jealous. I’m positively green with envy and blue is more my color. People have been posting pictures of the produce they’ve harvested from their home gardens and here I am… in a rental. I have family who are up to their ears in eggs from their chickens and I’m having to follow the rules of an HOA who, I suspect, was formed illegally. I’ve found the last few years to be what I consider a season for us. That’s a nice way to say that I don’t entirely hate it, but I’m ready for it to be over. Like Alaska winters… we would get excited for the first really good snow, but after 5+ months of frigid temps and excessive darkness, we’re ready for some warm sunshine.
I admit that this season hasn’t been entirely useless. We’ve had real growth during this season – some painful and some not – and we’ve had setbacks. Some setbacks were more emotionally painful than anything else, but each of these moments have been filled with areas we could experience new growth in. We’ve experienced bonus kiddos coming and going – a bit painful when they choose to not be in touch after leaving. We’ve had family members and friends pass away – some we weren’t entirely sure ever accepted Jesus. And we’ve had financial setbacks – um, we live in a rental, the housing market is still out of whack, and inflation is a reality, not a conspiracy.
I’ve learned that it’s a good practice to take stock every now and then. This pause gives me time to reflect, look closer, and actually appreciate seasons that I’ve gone through and even some that I realize I’m in the middle of. For instance, I’m in the middle of wading through some past hurts – some would go as far as calling those hurts trauma – that’s been forcing me to face some things I buried a long time ago. I’m in the middle of it, yet I pause and see so much beauty because I see how the healing is making changes in me and how I relate to those around me.
It’s hard to see beauty in the hurts. It’s hard to go through all the effort of digging up the trauma and sifting through the emotions to find healing. But the hard is necessary and good. Similar to the illustration of burning the chaff. This is something that I believe we all need to be going through… all the time. If you think there’s no room for you to improve in any – and all – areas, you probably need to have a significant encounter with God. I know that there is no single area in my life that I have reached or surpassed perfection… except being imperfect. God never said that good enough was good enough.
The illustration about burning the chaff is found in Matthew 3:12 as well as Luke 3:17. There’s a lot of debate regarding the nonexistence of the person or the continued conscious burning in hell. Pretty light topic for this week, right? While I’m not going to get into that particular debate, after reading these verses a few times over (including a bit of context), I kept getting the same message: the chaff represents wickedness – anything that is not of God.
Chaff is the scaly protective casing for the seeds of cereal grains. The winnowing process (a process of removing parts until only the best are left) allows the seeds which are heavier to fall straight to the floor while the chaff is blown off to the side by the wind. In biblical times, the chaff would then be burned, which helped to return vital nutrients to the soils. Once the chaff was burned, there was fertile soil for new, healthy growth.
The chaff found in my life is numerous! Anything that is not of God… Well, there are times that I respond in anger, sarcasm, or a tone. You really don’t have to nod in agreement. There are times (many of them) that my thoughts are selfish, even with my children! There are times that I see a thorn in my husband, and I refuse to see the plank in me. I have thoughts that don’t bring God glory, I have selfish ambitions, I allow my thoughts to run away from me – even in directions that cause me fear, I experience anxiety, and I struggle with being patient. I’m sure there are more… agreeing is really not necessary. There are even walls that I’ve built around my heart that I erected in order to keep my Father out.
The chaff is anything that is not of God…
Allowing the chaff to be burned on a daily basis is a major exercise in humility and it’s exhausting. Can you imagine waking up each morning and asking God to burn off the areas that are hindering your growth? Maybe even hindering your ability to have meaningful relationships and how to navigate them the way God wants you to navigate them? This is where I am… trying to relearn how to respond in my relationships for simple day-to-day stuff. I’m also learning how to remove the wall that was built to protect my 17-year-old self.
This is the season to burn off the chaff. And this is a season that comes daily instead of annually. While my family is harvesting cucumbers, watermelons, zucchinis, and a number of other things, this time of harvest will come to an end for them. Then they will begin the process again of sowing for the next harvest season. While we all want to skip the planting and growing time because we’re simply impatient – and no one really wants to bother with weeds – the process holds beauty. It’s hard, but there’s beauty there.
Some of the chaff that has been burned away has revealed to me so many ways that God, the same Father that I was barricading out, protected me and spared me from further heartbreak. There’s beauty in the burning.
I encourage you to ask God to show you the areas that He wants to burn away. You may even already know of a few – I already shared some of my list, but it’s actually a tad bit longer (seriously, you don’t have to agree with me). Be aware: the enemy will try to shame you into holding tightly to your chaff. You may even think that no one will love you if you shine light on the areas that need to be burned off. But God’s Word says there’s no fear in love (I John 4:18) and because of Jesus’ redemptive work there’s now no condemnation (Romans 8:1).
As always, this burning of chaff, doing the hard but necessary work, starts with getting into God’s Word. I know I’m beating this drum a lot lately, but faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). We can’t possibly be successful in our walk with God if we’re not in His Word. Get into His Word and light your chaff on fire!