DAY 34 - IF THE BONES ARE GOOD
MILANNA MARTILLARO, YA CREATIVE & PRODUCTION RESIDENT
“He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.” Psalm 34:20
If you have been around church once or twice you have probably heard the Christian-ese word “refining”. Refining is the process of removing impurities or unwanted things from something. This a lot of the time is a brutal process. Refining gold includes burning hot temperatures followed by scraping out impurities. Diamonds are refined by being crushed under lots of pressure in order to get a pure diamond. As for us humans, as vessels for the Spirit of God, we often have to go through processes of refining as well.
For myself personally, I feel like the last 6 months of my life have been a refining season. I have felt like I am under a lot of pressure with the heat being turned up every so often. While I know that God is doing a work within me, I have still had moments of feeling completely broken. Maybe this is you too?
These seasons of refinement, while brutal, are so important. God is allowing you to go through the process of purification. To dig up and get out things that are making you less like Him. Through the process of refinement God is allowing you to be crushed, broken, and under fire, because He is trying to uproot the cause of that anxiety, because He is trying to uproot that bitterness or unforgiveness towards that person who hurt you, because He is trying to uproot that sin pattern that you haven’t been able to let go of. Refinement can be absolutely gruesome.
But here is the beautiful news…
David is a man in the Bible who faced MANY periods of refinement (too much to unhash all in this here devo). But given everything that David went through, he writes something very interesting in Psalm 34, that The Lord “keeps all his bones, and not one of them is broken.” This isn’t the first time bones are mentioned within the poetry of the Psalms. Actually, David refers to bones quite a bit.
Bones have significant meaning within the bible of being considered as the FRAMEWORK. They are considered to be the essential supporting structure within us.
I love this.
David is showing us here that while he might be in the fire, being refined and crushed beyond what he feels like he can take, God protects his bones. This means that even though we go through periods of refinement that feel like they are breaking us, God protects our framework, He makes sure that we are never pushed or refined beyond our limit. Refinement seasons are tough, but they will not break you beyond repair. When the heat is turned up and you’re under pressure God is allowing impurities to be forced out of your heart and your soul while protecting you in the process.
God protects you. God protects your bones, and not one will be broken.