Thresh

Micah:4:12

That He is gathering them together

To be beaten up and trampled

Like sheaved of grain on a threshing floor. 

The Lord gathers together to beat and trample. Oh! Isn't it mean? How can a loving God allow this? 

He is supposed to be our fortress and our refuge. He is expected to protect. He should in fact gather to bless. Not to trample. Not to beat up. 

Oh! I am bleeding. Doesn't He see it? My tears have gone waste? 

The query that came to the bard's mind, as he was pondering whether God is good or cruel, a blessing God or a naive entity is this - What is blessing? How do you define blessing? 

Very often the word blessing is linked to - all would go well. 

Well that is true in one angle. But the problem is man is tuned to think only finitely. All would definitely go well - for sure. God speaks about eternity. Not about the riches we inherit. But about character. About transforming into the image of Christ. About abundant life. 

And this threshing is the only way to separate chaff from grain. All your impurities. All your pride and selfishness and lust and greed and lying and envy and jealousy can be purged out only by this. Not by buttering and polishing and keeping you as a showpiece. 

Man's fallenness is so deep. The depth of trampling that you go through shows the deepness of your fallenness and the nearness you are to the Holy God. As long you are far away from God in that deep trench, there is no harm. But as you come closer to the holy presence of God, the tramplings and beatings will only increase. Because you need purging. 

But be of courage, for I have overcome the world, says the one who has faced all these in exponential proportions. He knows. He will enable. He will equip. He will strengthen. You just have to cling. You just have to hold on. You just have to allow Him. Do not be discouraged. 

Image credit:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threshing