Furnace cont...

THE DETOUR DOWN THE ROYAL PATH

But Karen is correct; I now have a different perspective. I can now see more facets of the diamond. Hurnard once again illuminates this so well in her allegory.
"Much-Afraid," he said, "all of my servants on their way to the High Places have had to make this detour through the desert. It is called 'The Furnace of Egypt, and an horror of great darkness' (Gen. 15:12,17). Here they have learned many things which otherwise they would have known nothing about. Abraham was the first of my servants to come this way, and this pyramid was hoary with age when he first looked upon it. Then came Joseph, with tears and anguish of heart, and looked upon it too and learned the lesson of the furnace of fire. Since that time an endless succession of my people have come this way. They came to learn the secret of royalty, and now you are here, Much-Afraid. You too are in the line of succession. It is a great privilege, and if you will, you may also learn the lesson of the furnace and of the great darkness just as surely as did those before you. Those who come down to the furnace go on their way afterwards as royal men and women, princes and princesses of the Royal Line." (Hurnard p.85;86)
I know that it may seem rather arrogant to assume that God has the same sort of cosmic plans for me as He did for Abraham and Joseph. That's not really how I feel... it's more like I'm so relieved to know that the "Philadelphia Years" did not come because I had committed some horrible atrocity or because I was not on board with God's plan. It's freeing to realize that God was not inflicting some terrible punishment upon me... but perhaps I was being tried in the fire as a piece of pottery for a more noble use than I might have otherwise served.
HEALING STREAMS
It is my hope that this site serve as a place of dialogue for those who have stories to tell... those who have been through the fire... those who are suffering. I've experienced that it's healing to hear the stories of others and healing to tell my own. I encourage you to share your stories with us, so that we might help bear the burden and receive healing.
Grace and Mercy (xaris Eleos)