Kristin Lee O’Connor

By Kristin Lee O’Connor

Fire is coming. You’ve seen the video clips, you’ve trudged through the headlines, and you’ve heard the rumors. There is no denying it. The Lord has been doing what He declared in 1 Peter 4:17: “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us what will be the end of those who do not obey the Gospel of God?” (NKJV). We have witnessed the Lord separating the wheat from the tares. It has been a painful process for everyone in the church to witness, but there is always purpose in pain.

Pain can be an alert for damage to the skin when we touch a red-hot burner on a stove; we quickly remove our hand to avoid further injury. Pain can be a loud shout to avoid walking on a broken ankle. Pain can be a final alarm that a heart needs help with a clogged artery. Do we ever say, “Thank you, Father God, for the pain”? Probably not. There is always purpose in pain, even when we don’t like it.

Pain comes in various forms. Throughout the centuries, we have witnessed pain that results from torture, torment, and tearing. But what about pain that results from a place of love?

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “love hurts.” Sometimes this can be true, particularly when the hurt results from a place of Love. What about the small child who runs in front of a speeding car and receives a corrective action from a loving father? Yes, this is pain, but this is pain resulting from a place of love; it is correction. El Shaddai knows all things. He sees all things. Like a doctor who debrides a deep wound so it can heal and become strong again, our God removes the infection and scrapes away the dead cells so newer, stronger, healthier cells will rise in their place. He is caring for and restructuring a wounded church. This process can be painful, but there is always purpose in pain.

On Saturday, May 16, 2026, I was spending time in worship to the Lord, thanking God for His goodness, His blessings, His protection, and His overwhelming and sacrificial love. I was praising Him for His righteousness, His holiness, and His final authority in all things. It was in this place that I received an overwhelming and clear vision. It shocked me and caused me to gasp. There was no denying it, even though I didn’t yet understand it. I saw a vision of an angel of the Lord. We see this angel first appear in Exodus 12:23: “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” This is the account when the angel of the Lord passed over Egypt and claimed the lives of the firstborn. The marking of the sacrificial lamb over the lintel and doorposts saved the lives of those inside. In 2 Samuel 24, we see the plague on Jerusalem when King David called for an unauthorized census. 2 Kings 24:16 says: “When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel, who was afflicting the people, ‘Enough! Withdraw your hand.’” We see this angel again with the destruction of the Assyrian army. This is the angel that the Lord showed me in this vision. In his right hand, the angel carried a large ball of fire. It is the fire of the Lord.

Our God is a God of order. He moves with purpose and according to His patterns and rhythms. The day I received this vision was also important according to the Hebrew calendar: it was the culmination of Shavuot. This is when Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. These were a set of rules given to the people of God for living a righteous life, enabling them to be in right standing with Him.

When our Savior Jesus walked the earth—was bruised, beaten, hung on a tree, died, and rose from the grave on the third day so we can live a life of grace—He simplified the law given to Moses into the two greatest commandments. In Matthew 22:37–40, Jesus said to him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (NKJV).

How do we know that we are protected from God’s angel carrying out judgment? How do we know if God will protect us from a destroying angel? We know when we have turned to the Lord and have asked Him, from our hearts, to forgive us for all the things that we have done, all the things we have said, and all the things we have thought that have kept us away from Him; for He is a pure, holy, and righteous God. We know when we have received the Lord Jesus Christ as our King and Savior. We know when we have received the Holy Spirit and been sealed with the blood of Jesus. We know when we’ve made the Lord King over our hearts and move throughout our days within the flow of the 2 greatest commandments. Fire destroys, yes. But fire also ignites and purifies. When gold is heated to extremely high temperatures, it enables impurities to be removed. When fire burns a forest, it enables the forest to produce new growth. There is growth and newness of life from a fire. Did you know that certain pine trees, like the Jack pine, lodgepole pine, and longleaf pine, all need fire to reproduce? It is the burnt material in the forest that enriches the soil to produce new growth. Fire ignites, refines, and causes growth.

So, let’s take a few minutes and turn our hearts to the One who loved us first, to the One who sacrificed His life for us, and toward the One who calls us back home. Thank you, Lord, for the pain. Thank you for the correction. Thank you for Your holy fire. Thank you for Your refinement. Thank you for creating in us a new heart, a new mind, new hands, and new feet that walk more like You, that grasp onto Your lost sheep more like You, and a heart that loves more like You. Thank you, Lord, for Your new church that is emerging to prepare for the great and wonderful day of the Lord. Amen.

What is the Lord saying to you?