Submitting to the “190”

We’ve all heard the expression “He’s in hot water.” And all of us have been in hot water at one time or another. Furthermore – and I think it’s safe for me to say this – most of us don’t like it and do everything we can to avoid it! Nevertheless, from time to time the Father allows His children to end up there. But why? What’s the purpose behind it?

Yesterday I was cleaning my dishes in the wash sink. I started by taking all my utensils and putting them in a cup with some dish soap and then filling it with hot water, hot water that is a scorching 190º. One of the utensils was completely caked with food and God-knows-what-else and I knew it would need some time to soak in the hot water before it was ready to be scrubbed. But something happened that I didn’t expect. When I finished washing my other dishes and started to take out the utensils one by one, I couldn’t find the fork that had been so dirty before! I literally did a double take and thought maybe I was imagining that I had had a fork that was that dirty. But there it was. What happened?

To my shock, and this has never happened before, the fork came out perfectly clean. There was no reason for me to scrub it. Just sitting in the hot water for an extended length of time not only loosened the dirt and grime but forced it to fall off, leaving the fork completely clean. I immediately felt the Spirit speak to me: “Jim, this is what I’m doing with you. I put you in the hot water of this prison to break off of you the things you couldn’t see. I’m cleansing you and readying you to be used by My hand for My service.”

This real-life lesson was so powerful I could feel tears rising in my eyes right there at the sink. I went back to my bunk and meditated a bit, very humbled by what He was saying. He could have put me in the hot water for just a minute and it would’ve barely wet the surface, causing Him to have to scrub it, something that would have been much more painful. Instead, He chose to let me marinate in the hot water for a while so that everything would just fall off, chains and all. If it took three full days for the death to fall off Yeshua, three years for Joseph’s chains to fall off when he was in prison (according to the book of Jubilees), and three days for Jonah to wake up from his deep-sea fishing expedition, how much more time do I need to be free from the chains in my own life that I couldn’t even see? Perhaps if Yahweh has mercy on me my chains will be broken off after three years, as well? I’m believing by faith for that!

How often do we feel the hot water and then jump right out? How often do we shun the process God is using to promote us so He can use us? Why is it so hard for us to comprehend that pain and suffering are really the instruments that lead to obedience as well as to His throne? If gold and silver are only purified through intense heat and He is called the Refiner’s Fire, should we really expect anything less?

Mishpacha (family), stop complaining about your situation. Refuse to jump out of the fire. Submit to His loving hand, because that’s exactly what it is. In Isaiah, the Bible says that those who wait on Him will not be disappointed (chapter 40). Trust His “190” process. He’s not trying to hurt you, burn you, or make your life miserable. He’s trying to BLESS YOU BEYOND IMAGINATION if you’ll just sit still! Humble yourself before your Master today and repent for all your murmuring and squirming. Just take a deep breath and praise Him in the 190. Because the part that hurts is the very part that needs to fall off. And at the end of the day, while everyone else is being scrubbed with a scouring pad because they didn’t submit to the 190, you will find yourself at the Master’s table, secure in His loving hand. The 190 is not for the weak but for the warrior. Which one are you?

Shalom!

Jim Staley

May 2018