Inside Out

This past week I’ve been preparing for an event that required ironing over 100 pieces of linen, table runners, napkins, overlays… all of it. Hours and hours. And as I was ironing the silk table runners, I noticed something:

There’s a huge difference between ironing silk on the shiny front side versus the back.

• Front side? The heat can scorch it, make it cling, make wrinkles worse.

• Backside? It smooths out. The static helps. The fabric relaxes. It yields.

Just like I have to iron those silk runners with the shiny side face-down, protected from direct heat, the Lord began to show me that He irons us the same way.

Silk can scorch if you put the iron on the visible side. It can cling, melt, wrinkle even more if the heat hits the wrong place. So the real work happens on the hidden side… the side no one sees.

And the Lord showed me:

“I’m working on the inside places, not to harm the parts of you that people see but to strengthen the parts of you they don’t. I apply heat to the areas you think don’t matter, because that’s where the creases live. That’s where the shaping happens. If I processed you on the surface, you’d look finished but be fragile. But if I process you underneath, the beauty I’ve placed on you won’t be ruined, it will be revealed.”

The process isn’t punishment.

The heat isn’t judgment.

It’s refinement, protection, and preparation.

Silk requires a gentle touch. And so do you.

God was showing me something very specific through this simple task.

Silk is valuable.

Silk is delicate.

Silk has beauty that can be ruined with the wrong pressure, wrong heat, or wrong angle.

The Lord used that to say:

"I’m working on the parts of you that are hidden, your motives, your identity, your fears, your private spaces, the places you don’t broadcast. Not because the visible you is wrong, but because the visible you is vulnerable.

If I applied pressure to the side everyone sees, the side you’re presenting, the side you’re building, the side you’re trying to perfect, you would feel scorched. You would cling to things you’re meant to let go of. You would take on more wrinkles instead of less.

So I iron all of you from the inside. I smooth you privately so that your outward life can flow gracefully.”

God is reassured me:

• You’re in a pressing season, but you’re not in a damaging season.

• You’re in a refining season, but you’re not in a breaking season.

• I’m applying heat with precision because of how precious you are.

  
  

The things we think are tedious, the quiet, unseen work, that’s where God is refining us. That’s where He’s shaping our hearts, our character, our gifts.

Romans 8:28 reminds us: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Even when it doesn’t feel glamorous.

Even when no one notices.

Even when it feels repetitive or thankless.

We all want the outcome, but we resist the process.We want the glory, but not the pressing.We want the moment, but not the hours behind it.

Every outcome depends on the process.

Rush it, and you bootleg it.

Resist it, and you struggle through it.

But surrender to the internal work, the hidden ironing? That’s where there can actually be peace.

God does not iron your life to destroy you. He irons you to reveal you.

If you let Him work beneath the surface, the grace and beauty He’s placing in your life will show outwardly in a way you couldn’t manufacture on your own.

So today, in your mundane, tedious, behind-the-scenes moments… pay attention.

Listen. Participate. Surrender.

Because God is ironing. And when He’s done, the world will see it: smooth, polished, and full of His glory.