In this session we reflect on chapter 6 of Crushing by TD Jakes, The Price of Crushing.
Trials and pain are truly not pleasant. When we experience pain, trials we just kind of hold our breath and anticipate its end. The old saying “if I only knew then what I know now” has a strange aspect to it. I am not sure if I knew then what I know now, would I have made it this far.
If I would have seen and been aware of all I would go through to get here, I don’t know if I would have made it this far. We have all experienced tremendous pain, pain we would have never desired or expected to survive the whole.
Fortunately, God does not reveal everything in our life to us at the beginning. Instead, He asks us to rely on Him step by step, one day at a time, one moment at a time.
The concept of not knowing also puts us into a situation that seems to add to the impact of our crushing. We feel blindsided, caught off guard, and hijacked by events so unexpected they take our breath away. Yet, fi we had known what was going to hit us and when it would happen, then we would have likely taken flight. God knows us intimately, however, and does not what us to settle for mediocre lives. He wants to use those times that feel unbearable to make us stronger.
What decision, situation, or relationship do you sometimes wish you could do over? Why? How would you act or choose differently if given the chance to do it again? Where would you be today if that was different?
How has God shown you that it’s sometimes a blessing not to get what you ask for? How has this awareness changed the way you pray? Why?
When have you most recently felt like you were settling for less than God’s best in some area of your life? What were the circumstances around this occasion? Do you still feel that way? Why or why not?
Like many of us, the people of Israel also seemed to prefer having a mediocre life rather than go through the wilderness to get to the Promised Land. Although they had been enslaved in Egypt for many generations and had been crying out to God to deliver them, when He finally began to lead them to their new home, they tended to hate the journey. They wanted instant gratification, feeling justified in rebelling against God at times in order to pursue the pleasures and comforts they believed were their due.
But God had a larger plan in place. After the Hebrew people had been led out of Egypt by Moses, after they passed through the symbolically cleaning waters of the Red Sea, God allowed them to wander in the desert. Along the way, however, he instructed Moses to build the first tabernacle. God was specific and intentional with His instructions.
The tent of meeting has various sections but also some key features that were symbolic when first entering the tabernacle. mirrors, water and a fiery alter. These reminded the priests as well as pilgrims to look within themselves and to cleanse and purify their hearts before offering their sacrifices of atonement.
When have you looked back on your life at a time that felt painful or difficult in the moment but now feels better?
What is your thoughts, insights and understanding of how a pearl is formed? (Page 106)?
How do past mistakes and times of crushing influence the way you make major decisions in your life? Do you consider yourself more of a risk taker or safety seeker? Why?
What intrigues you most about the very specific design God gave Moses for the tabernacle in Exodus 25:40? How does this aspect resonate within your own life today?
The three symbols of the tabernacle also parallel the first steps in the process of wine making.
- grapes are plucked (selected)
- grapes are then trampled & crushed
- juice is filtered and strained to remove impurities
What have you had to sacrifice in the past in order to follow Christ? How did you feel at the time about giving up these items, relationships, or habits? Now how do you feel about what you sacrificed?
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. – James 5:16 NASB
How often do you reflect on your life and ask God to forgive you for recent transgressions? How often do you confess to others?
When was the last time you offered amends to someone for wrong you have done? What consequences emerged from your actions?
It is crazy, but frequent, we see where people want to have a better life, they want to have that great glass of wine, but want to skip the process of getting the wine. In order to become God’s wine, we cannot escape our crushing. It sure seems crazy when we witness so many that believe accepting Christ into their lives results in an elimination of pain from their lives. We know, in fact, that just the opposite is true. Jesus even said:
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. – John 33:16 NLT
God is not evil and he does not like to see us suffer, but there is a price that must be paid in order to appreciate and value what we have been so freely given. While the Lord so freely gives us His abundant blessings, He never promised that we would escape suffering as we experience them. Crushing is the price we pay to become all that God created us to be.
What has been something that you have saved up for or invested in earning (home, car, education) and how did having to save or work over time in order to receive that blessing affect your way you perceived its value? How did you value your achievement?
What are you willing to pay in order to experience the fullness of being who God made you to be? What’s the hardest part of paying this price? Why?
Think back to when you first began your personal relationship with God. What did you expect at that time? What would you tell yourself, knowing what you know and being who your are presently?
We can acknowledge of how God uses crushing in our lives, we should be willing to run toward it, instead of away from it as we often do. In the Bible we are told…
My fellow believers, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can! For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things. And then as your endurance grows even stronger it will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking. – James 1:2-4 TPT
God invites us to the winepress so that He can do with us that which is necessary to reconnect something temporal to its eternal source. Our crushing is simply the beginning of a glorious transformation process that will reveal who God made us to be. Crushing releases all the gifts, talents, strengths, and abilities within us even as it removes the veneers we may be using to hide from pain.
Crushing is not going to last and, like the labor pains of an expectant mother, will produce new life.
This week, and during this season, acknowledge the current trials and tests you and others may be going through. You might even have tests going on in your life now that seem quite small but in the past would be devastating. Use your knowledge and awareness to encourage and edify people in your life, that don’t fully understand the elements of the tabernacle or the seasons in our life (sacrifice, introspection and refinement).
Read this coming week, chapter 7 as we prepare to “Make Wine”