In the Old Testament times, when they made the anointing oil, they took it through three different presses. The first one crushed the olives, then the second one squeezed the juice out, and then the third one took the olive skins and squeezed them one more time. The result was very pure oil. That's like the process of sanctification. The Holy Spirit acts like those oil presses with our hearts.
The Lord has been dealing with my heart for the past few weeks. The Lord's been trying to teach me about being humble, about not comparing myself to other ministries, not comparing myself to people down the street. Have you ever thought you didn’t struggle with certain things, but suddenly, the Lord puts a spotlight on it in your heart? Things you didn't even think were there, you find as God points it out. By the loving kindness and mercy and grace of God, he's wanting to squeeze that thing out of our hearts.
This process of squeezing, crushing and pouring us out is a long process. Sometimes when he’s doing this, it can cause us frustration. “God, why are you always on my case? Why are you always critical? Why do you seem to introduce hardship and struggles into my life? Why don't you just tell me I'm a good person?”
So maybe we go out and find a church, and they tell us how good we are. If you have a church or friends who only tell you what a good person you are, run. You and I need people in our lives who are willing to be like the prophet Nathan when he said to King David, “Thou art the man, the murderer, the adulterer.” There's this sin in your life that God is putting his finger on. He wants to press, purge and remove it from your heart and character. The apostle Paul described this in his letters, saying, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6, ESV).
We can allow this long process to frustrate us, or we can receive it as the grace it is intended to be. When we find ourselves once again in this pressing process, let’s say, “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for the mercy of correction.”