It was a typical day.  The work day had come to an end.  It had been a long day.  I was tired.  Exhausted again from the mental gymnastics my mind routinely goes through.  Thinking, re-thinking, numerous bunny trails of what if and maybe?  Don’t misunderstand.  I had no major decisions or stress.  It’s just typical.

I am at a meeting at the intercessory prayer ministry I have been a part of for many years.  We have begun with a time of corporate worship, before intercession begins.  The song playing was Misty Edward’s “Fling Wide”.  The lyrics being sung were,

“Awake, awake, oh north wind
Awake, awake, oh south wind; blow over me
Come, oh winds of testing
Come, winds of refreshing; blow over me”

Perhaps you know the song?  It is based on Song of Solomon 4:1

“Awake, O north wind,
And come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
That its spices may flow out.
Let my beloved come to his garden
And eat its pleasant fruits.”  (NKJV)

The essence of the teaching and song are as follows:  The Bride (that’s us), voluntarily asks for both the north winds and the south winds in her life.  Everyone loves the south winds; blessings, favor, revelation, grace on everything our hands touch.  But the north winds!  Burr.  The north winds bring the difficult times.  The dark times.  Those seasons you walk through when you wonder if God is real, because it seems like He hasn’t heard your prayer and you have been in this dark and difficult test soooo long already.  And here the bride is asking for the north wind!  Why?  Because she knows that it takes both the north and the south wind for us to truly know Him and be transformed by Him.  Both unlock our hearts to know his faithfulness and to break the power of the flesh over our own lives!

Anyway, here I sit.  Tired.  I look up and across the room and see a young man I’ll call Joel.  I have always liked Joel from the day I met him.  He seemed to remind me of myself years ago.  He has a lot of passion and zeal for the things of the Lord.  He has a wife and a couple of young children and is an intercessor in this ministry.  We are about to the part in the song where we not only ask for the north winds but declare our resolve to the Lord to allow His purging in our lives!

“Take me through the fire, take me through the rain
Take me through the testing, I’ll do anything
Test me, try me, prove me, refine me like the gold
Like the gold”

I looked at Joel.  His hands are raised, He’s leaning forward in worship, He is singing with all his heart.  His body is fully given to the Lord in worship and you can tell by the expression on his face, he means every word he is saying.  He is asking for the fire, he is asking for the testing.  He is saying I’ll do anything!  Just refine me like gold so I may be a vessel of the Lord, fit for honor and every good work.

I am just sitting in worship.  (Remember I was tired.)  I haven’t joined in.  I am just watching silently.  I see Joel, and I think…  Oh My!  Does he really know what he is asking?  Because I have been there.  I have prayed that prayer for the north winds.  I have cried out to be made fit for God’s highest purposes.  And do you know what?  God HEARS those prayers.  I observed that usually about a year and a half (God’s timing isn’t like ours) after I sincerely prayed such a prayer that I find myself under a frigid north wind.  You would have thought that I had volunteered to join Sir Ernest Shackleton on his ill-fated attempt to the South Pole; his ship was frozen in the ice, then crushed, leaving him stranded for 2 years!  I have twice been unemployed for a year; had a fire destroy the duplex we were living in; had stress and difficulty with family, etc.  You know the drill.

I see the young man Joel and think of his wife and young children.  I know he doesn’t really understand what he is asking for.  None of us ever do.  So I say a silent prayer for him.  “God, give him grace.  Help him through the journey!”  I begin to think about those seasons where I experienced the north winds.  I think of how difficult they were.  I begin to also think of what it accomplished in my faith.  I realize that slow and steady, day by day trusting in God has produced a far stronger faith in Him than if He just supernaturally one day pulled me out of my trial.  You would think it worked the other way around.  The supernatural deliverance does increase our faith; it increases our faith for supernatural deliverance the next time.  However, the day by day faithfulness of God increases our faith for endurance and strength.  Now we have something we can impart to others.  I begin to think about His faithfulness, I begin to think about HIM.  Then I remember how Good He is.  I remember how I felt His pleasure pour over me when I said, in the midst of my trial, “I trust You, I trust You!”.  All of a sudden my heart is stirred once again with His love for me and I respond back, “Abba Father, You are so Good.  There is NO ONE like you.  You are worth any price we pay!  If others could see You the way I see You now, then they would understand.”  (Song of Solomon 6:1)

The song has continued in worship.  We are still singing Misty’s “Fling Wide” and are drawing near again to the declaration part of the song.  I can see Joel tensing his body, ready to give himself to the words of the song.  The moment of decision for me has arrived.  What shall I do?  I think of Him, His faithfulness, His glory, His love.  Slowly, I rise to my feet.  I lift my hands, close my eyes.  I lean in and lift my voice in worship:

“Take me through the fire, take me through the rain
Take me through the testing, I’ll do anything
Test me, try me, prove me, refine me like the gold
Like the gold”

Is He worth it, you ask?  If you have seen Him, then you know.