No "Self Clean" Cycle with God- Burning off the Dross

Recently I have been reading scripture and sitting with the Lord first thing in the morning. You know "Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God" type ritual. Well, this morning I felt moved to finish cleaning the oven, perhaps a prompting from the Lord. I had started it yesterday and slightly irritated my sweet husband by leaving it unfinished. I said, "Okay Lord, I'll clean this oven, if you are okay with that". As I gathered up my cleaning supplies and opened the oven door I wondered, where is Jesus in this? How is this time well spent with the Lord? I responded to my own questions with answers like the Lord is in all things, tasks big and small. Do all things unto the Lord. But then the Lord reminded me that I had just read the phrase "burning off the dross" last night. And I was like, wow! I have heard that concept before in various teachings and scriptures. How the Lord puts us through the fire of testing to refine us. To make us more like Him. And now here in my kitchen was an example of that act of God in a seemingly mundane task. Side note, did you know that one definition of mundane is "of this earthly world rather than a heavenly or spiritual one"? Well I did not until just now. And while God is all knowing He must have thought it fun to turn oven cleaning into a spiritually fulfilling task. 

So, that's what my cleaning cycle does on the oven, it burns off all the unwanted mess left in the oven. Spilled food, crumbs from toast, all the "garbage". I have been in a season, if you want to call it that, of God burning off impurities and sin in my life, all the "garbage" through testing and His refining fire. 

I was now cleaning my oven, finishing up the job, because even though I had run the cleaning cycle there was still burnt on food. Unclean spots. I had filled a basin with hot water, that I spilled all over the floor (another mess), and was scrubbing those areas that were left unclean. It's actually called a Self Clean cycle and now I am thinking about the term "Self Clean" and how ironic that is. 

You know what? I could not clean those areas. I scrubbed hard. I could not remove those spots myself. "Self Clean" was not working. My attempt to self clean was definitely not working.

Slightly frustrated I resorted to running the cleaning cycle again and allowing the oven to burn it off once again. 

Something tells me...NO, God is telling me, showing me, to let Him complete the refining process. He is still burning off the dross. No matter what I do I can not speed up and or finish the process, only He can. There is no "Self Clean" cycle with the Lord.

Right now I surrender to the fire knowing only He can tend it and that I am safe. I was seeking purity of heart and the Lord is answering. And to my question, "where is Jesus in all this?" He is right there with me in the fire or oven.

If you are like me and need more, here are a few scriptures to discover, revisit, sit in:

Malachi 3:2-3

Psalm 51

Psalm 66: 9-10

Daniel 3:27

Zechariah 13:9

Psalm 7:9

In this season I am writing as much as possible down. I am taking photos. I am savings posts and anything I come across that God is using to speak to me. I was trying to take a photo of the oven just in case I missed something or there was another bit of revelation I might have missed. What do you think?