Darlene Rose

We enter the wilderness heavy-ladened as the Day revealed our wood, hay and stubble. We emerge from the wilderness knowing it was consumed by the Fire we followed by night.

I’ve been fascinated with myrrh. It is a woody scent. Its fragrance is the smell of the wilderness and it is said of both Solomon and David on their wedding day, that they were fragrant with myrrh, among other fragrances. (Cassia and Frankincense are woody too, as all three are taken from the bark of trees).

There is coming a day when we will see the Lord in all His Glory and we should love His Appearing. We should long for it. And there is coming a day when the Great Harvest of Souls will be at our front door. We will embrace it. Great Awakenings are desired and sought. We ought to obtain vision for without it we perish. But our vision must never let go of the procession of glory happening right now, today, in our wilderness. Our “dry season” Our dry season produces wood for the fire. If we have no wood, we have no fire. When you read Psalm 45, do you see the wilderness or do you see a royal, elegant wedding? When you read SOS 3, do you see Solomon crowned with glory in the wilderness?

Myrrh is bitter in taste and fragrance before being burned, but sweet afterwards. If Myrrh, with all its valuable properties just stayed on the tree it will have little value. It expands in viscosity while it is in the flames. Viscosity is its thinness or thickness and the word is usually used in reference to oil. Once heated, it becomes thinner and usable, but prior to that, it is thick and unusable.

Our own “every day” is as myrrh that is bittersweet if we find Him, but bitter if we don’t allow the flame of love to burn the dry tinder of our hearts, and press in with the talent, gift, skill, love language, to respond to Him in the fire.

We cannot produce precious oil on our own. Oil is brought forth from the daily, intimate moments spent with the One who loves us. We may see our dry wilderness. We may see our flesh, our own skills and talents that are obviously there but go nowhere (think of that myrrh before it is burned). But then He comes, simultaneously, wearing a crown of Glory, as we are united with Him.

Most see our flesh as something that is bad because we read that the works of our flesh will be burned up. 1 Corinthians 3:13 “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is”. Our wood, hay and stubble is not bad. It is incomplete. It must be tossed into the fire; surrendered to Him daily.
For the fire of the Holy Spirit to burn, it needs our DRY WOOD. Our flesh! Our Good Works offered up to Him.

Disciplining myself daily to sit and write, is a thrusting forth of His word to flow through me! It starts out in the flesh (my dry tinder) and then a fire comes to burn it up, and the resin that was inside is no longer sticky and only holed up in one spot but expands and becomes smooth and is able to flow and overflow as oil.

I’m storing up Oil for The Day of His Appearing. It has required my surrender of my wood, hay and stubble; my dry tinder; the performances of the flesh and the skills I have learned that point back to me alone.

Song of Solomon 3:6 Who is this coming out of the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the merchant’s fragrant powders?

Psalm 45:8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.