Sometimes God allows us to go through the times of extreme heat and pressure, to pull out those things that are blocking the fulfillment. It is a time of collecting blessings and being washed free from those deeply rooted hindrances that are blocking us from receiving.

The very thing that we naturally want to resist going through is where the materialization of our heart desires are found. Everything that we dream to see is on the other side of the flame, where the fears and blockages are melted away. 

God will allow circumstances or events to come that trigger those fears and other blockages to rise out of being hidden and dormant. It is not to bring torment, rather it is a time of deliverance and freedom. It’s like going to the dentist. No one wants to go, but going to the dentist can bring an instant relief from pain. 

There are things that can block us from receiving the fulfilled promises from God and the answer to our prayers. For me, it was fear, doubt, anger, resentment, and the victim mentality of “self-pity”. 

Days before God brought me into the “flame experience”, He woke me up early one morning and said, “Don’t worry, I will revive you”. Later that day, my car broke down, and I was stranded. I would like to mention that it was -9 degrees that day and our reservation was about to expire.

 I cannot even tell you how many “what if’s” of terror were trying to win my attention, and drag me out of faith during that time. 

Not only did I have no way to move or go anywhere, I was totally broke with no way to buy groceries. Each day I watched the food supply go lower and lower, as my bills grew bigger and bigger. The faith test went on for days, and it was a constant effort not to worry about our needs getting into a critical place, while staying centered in faith. 

I felt like I weighed ten thousand pounds, and it was a struggle to hold onto hope. Every time I thought about what we needed, it was like the flames of heat and pressure shot up with intensity. 

God had given me a big promise to cover our needs before being tested in the flames of opposition. He flooded me with visions of His promised help showing up, and He spoke to me clearly about His promise to revive us just in time. 

However, He also warned me that it would come at the last moment and that it would look scary to be drained so deeply. 

I knew God would show up with the fulfilled promise to rescue us, because I have experienced His faithful miracle rescues for so many years now. Even though I knew God would show up, it was like all these anxieties were coming as things become more desperate and the fire started to grow hot. 

All of a sudden, the flames were getting hotter and hotter. I felt an insane amount of pressure, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. 

My heart started to race frantically, even though I had my thoughts on the promise. My body was manifesting the fear of not being able to support my family, even though God made me a promise of otherwise. 

It was like the wounds and doubts of old traumas of going through life and death situations were rising up from those hidden places where they tried not to be found. 

Facing those shadows of suffering and death, made the fire seem so intense. It was overwhelming….the fear of God forgetting me, the fear of suffering, the fear of not having the hotel room, the fear of completely running out of food, the fear of being stranded in the zero degrees cold of winter with no place to go…it was all too much to go through. 

Although I had a direct promise from God for every single fear, the fear was overwhelming and the temptation to connect with worry about all that could go wrong was coming on strong and hot. 

The reason the fire was so intense was because God allowed me to be triggered beyond my comfort zone. He has told me this before, “Love must be made uncomfortable to grow”, meaning that His love manifests the fears to displace them and cast them out. Facing real life fears also means being set free from those fears of torment and being filled with the love of God. It is medicine for the soul. 

I was facing a serious looking things. I didn’t have anyone to call, and I was in a hotel in a state that I was not familiar with. The level of discomfort of having so many needs at once was unbearable. I was being hounded by so many fears that I finally had all I could take, and I broke down….

I began to sob uncontrollably, and so much filth came out of the fire. In that explosive moment, I had manifestations of anger for having to go through the hardship, the frustrations of feeling helpless, self-pity because I felt like God gave me too much to walk through, and resentment for not being able to have the life choices that I would have chosen if it weren’t for others in my life. 

I also went through deep sorrow for some of the losses that I had never processed, but had buried deep inside. The unprocessed grief was an area that had damaged my hope, and that was harmful to my faith as well. The flame was bringing everything up, and it was cleaning out the neglected areas where my heart needed the comfort of love.

Those were all hidden areas that were blocking me from receiving that I didn’t know about. After my tearful melt down, I took a shower and started to renew my mind and pray. 

I prayed through and released those old stubborn, toxic thoughts that I was storing away, and I came back to what God promised. I used the pressure and fear as a place to release them to God. I let go of the fears and worries and took a deep breath. 

Also, I chose to “turn the other cheek” to the fears of how dangerous our situation seemed, and I chose to trust God to show up to rescue me like He promised. 

When you find yourself going through the fire just before a fulfilled promise, how you react in the heat can change everything…

From the moment that I let go of the fears and worries of all the bad things that could happen, the weight and pressure was gone. Even though I knew I was still “in the faith testing”, I felt so much better. I could still feel the flame burning against my chest, yet my shoulders were relieved of the tension and stress. 

Even though I was aware that I had a car that didn’t run in a freezing hotel parking lot and hardly any food left in the room, I had such a deep “inner knowing” that the relief would show up at any moment, that I felt like it already had. 

I knew an attitude of impatience would only prolong the fulfillment, so I spent the rest of the time sitting through the fire and resisting all the panic that was knocking at my door for a visit. It was hard….harder than I can even put into words. 

At times, it was a struggle to breathe, and I couldn’t even think a thought without letting a fear in, so I would just imagine that the promise showed up over and over, through the slow burn of my faith being tested under the heat and pressure. When your faith is being streched, it feels like being in the fire when you have to hold that strech through the burn. It is strength building and a time of expanding to increase. 

Instead of allowing any thoughts, I used the vibrations of faith to stretch myself to believe, by dreaming of my promise from God. Since elephants can communicate through underground vibrations that the human ear cannot detect, I knew that God would feel the vibrations of my faith reaching out to Him as well, like the woman with the issure of blood, reaching to touch the hem of His garment. 

The Lord told me that this was a “soul cleaning” process, and He said that I needed to stretch my faith to make room to receive even more tangible blessings of His promise. 

There was a point just before the fulfilled relief came, when I felt like it had happened before it did. It was like there was an unseen shift and the atmosphere was much lighter and cooler. 

Then everything started to come to me like dominoes, one blessing after another. I had $200 come into to lift our groceries back up. I had a huge relief of my room being covered for 2 weeks, and it was like cool water poured out over the fiery fears of not having refuge. 

Then a few days later, I received an unexpected $800 to cover a mountain of other bills and needs as well. Even my car was repaired with the most perfect timing as the icing on the cake. God revived me, just like He promised that He would. And just like that, I was out of the fire and sailing into comfort. 

Going through the trial of “fire” cleared away the blockages that were keeping me from receiving my prayers and promises from God. Like leaving the dentist’s office with no more pain and smile on my face, I was oddly thankful for the experience. 

Being in the flame is a terribly beautiful thing….once it’s over. But when you are in it, it is like a deep, deep detox, which is never an enjoyable process. Facing those shadows of smoke, help us to see that those fears are nothing at all. 

It’s at the moment, when the faith test feels like a crisis. Suddenly it feels like a matter of life or death, and like you are running out of time. The temptation to worry or delve into fearful thoughts is growing like a ravenous fire inside. 

The walls may seem like they are closing in with engulfing flames, and the weight of it all it just too much to take. It gets harder to breathe when you feel the urgency, because you know that this is a desperate place, or so it looks that way. 

It feels like you are being consumed by flames as the threats of fear seem too uncomfortable to stand, and the temptation to grab onto fearful agreements or panic is coming against you from every angle. 

The fears creep on all sides as the enemy reminds you of all the bad things that “could” happen. It is a full force fight not to imagine those fears, and you know that this is only a moment of faith being refined to into gold. 

It is at that point when it is too much to stay in faith, and it is too overwhelming to stay in gratitude. The worries are thick, like a gray cloud of smoke from the fire that is rapidly spreading, and one wrong move can burn down the castle of faith that you have been building up until now. 

What do you do when it is too much? All is takes is entertaining one fearful or doubtful thought, and you can find yourself on a slippery slope of falling into an outcome that you don’t want. 

Faith is all about agreement. We get what we put faith into. We can believe in our fears and worry and literally bring them to pass, or we can put our faith into our hopes and God’s promises to see the promised land. 

God even gives us the freedom to put our faith in our prayers and see them happen just as we asked. As a matter of fact, He will do super abundantly more than we can ask, think or hope. 

To think from negativity about worries, fears, and doubts is an addictive force that many people are not aware of. Negative thinking is the addiction that is unspoken and very much accepted in many parts. In fact, some people embrace them and wear them with pride. 

Those fearful thoughts are like the drug begging us to take “just one more” hit. That is exactly the words that a true addict will say (I have been there, all too often lol )….” just one more”. The urge to entertain that thought of fear, worry, self-pity, and doubt can be overwhelming. 

When you get to the place when it is too much to stay in faith, then the only best option, my dear friend, is to sit in the fire….🔥

Don’t try to resist the fire, and don’t try to cover it up with another distraction…or addiction. It’s time for that fear to go, so that you can come out of the flames fully empowered–without the trace of smoke–and blessings by the armloads. 

Sit in the middle of the fire that you feel, when the temptation to worry or feel afraid is overwhelming and suffocating to go through. Sit through the discomfort, but don’t go into the those worries that are begging for your attention. 

Feel it, let it burn for a moment, and then let it all go. Use that pain of those threatening fears as a point to channel your faith into a complete surrender of trust to God. THE MOST PROPHETIC ACT OF FAITH IS TO REST….so let go, dear heart, let go. 

It is better at that moment of crisis to do nothing at all. Still your thoughts, and rest until the rescue comes. The Lord is your safety in the fire, and He knows when you are trusting in Him. 

Don’t engage with the thoughts of fear, worry, or doubt. Just keep quiet and wait for Jesus to rush in and save the day, as your personal Firefighter. Endure through the heat and pressure of the moment….it will pass, I can assure you.  

To think about fears and worries is a temptation. It’s a way for the mind to feel control. Some even choose to worry because they hope their emotional busyness will gain the attention of God, because of a fear of being forgotten or abandoned from a childhood trauma. That was a wound that I had too…

It is better to stay in the middle of the fire, than to connect with those fearful thoughts. It takes more strength to rest than anything else…especially when you are in the midst of the blazing inferno. 

Find the peace of God and focus on His promise. Breathe through the flames of the trial and remember that the pressure is a sign that the breakthrough is about to take place. 

Resist the fear and it will disappear. God’s rescue of love water will flow out in ripples and cascades of relief. The place that was smoldering under the flames will be the birthing ground where the fulfillment of your promise is found. 

All that remains after the flame is the comforting love and those fulfilled blessings that God promised to bring. Instead of seeing what you fear burning you alive, you will come out of the flames leaning on the Beloved, and with the tangible outcome of exactly what you hoped everything would look like. 

I love you, 

Dannette

From Smith Wigglesworth, An interpretation of tongues

“From your mother’s womb I called you. Though I have chastened you and put you through the fire, yet it was necessary to bring out of you and out into a land of promise. It is true that you have passed through deep waters and that the fire has many times seared you, but this was all to chasten you and to prove you, to see if you loved the Lord with all of your heart. And now the Lord has brought you to the banquet. Eat, my beloved, eat, and be satisfied” 

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