Prove me, Refine me like Gold.

If I could count the amount of times I've wished God could give me a check list of things to do for me to be fixed.

Just give me a formula to perform to get better at being... better.

David talks about this in one of his psalms. It's actually one of the more raw and heart-throbbing psalms if you ask me.

"For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering...."

Psalm 51:16

Take anything. Anything dear to me, I don't care. Have my car, house, my MacBook, take it all, whatever makes me better and healed. Whatever will atone my treacherous actions and thoughts!

I desire nothing, but a pure and blameless heart before You, God.

The chapter continues to explain that the only sacrifice that God will accept is a broken spirit.

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart-- These, O, God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17

I decided I didn't really know what contrite meant and that I shouldn't really quote things without knowing what they mean. If you're like me and had no clue, 

Contrite- feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt. Some of the synonyms are remorseful and repentant.

God never said that healing or the renewal of mind would be an easy process or that it would feel good.

Sometimes it just has to suck really bad and feel like someone is squeezing the squeezers out of your heart.

It's called pruning, refining, renewing.

He's saying your sacrifice is your humility. Your sacrifice is you being able to accept that you're wrong! The world isn't out to get you, but only you can control what you do and how you handle things.

It's a whole heaps and loads easier to blame everyone else for your problems, but more than 99% of the time it's not anybody's fault. 

Bad things happen.

They will! It's truly inevitable while we live on this fallen planet.

Some of the bad things don't have to happen though, a lot of times we end up getting stuck in situations that are unnecessary, but we have a good God and He likes to make our screw ups work out for really good things. 

He's saying, sacrifice the contentment of your heart and emotions. Let me dig in there and pull out all your idols. All your crutches that you use instead of me to help you along.

Give Me your comforters, give Me your secret dark pleasures, give Me whatever is stopping Me from getting deeper. Let Me love you and refine you so you can be My daughter with a whole spirit, mind and soul. 

GO THROUGH MY REFINING FIRE. 

Let His fire of truth free you and burn off the things that are keeping you bound up.

I really like what my Bible says in kinda summing up what that scripture is saying.

"The OT sacrificial system was not rejected. Rather the Law did not prescribe sacrifices for murder or adultery, sins which David had committed. For these presumptuous sins, the sinner could only cast himself on the mercy of God. The Lord accepts and forgives those who are honest with Him, who are humble before Him, and who recognize their dependence on His grace."