Devotion for June 22nd

I have been reading a book called "A Graceful Waiting", which is about waiting periods in our life and how God uses them. The author compares our waiting periods to the Biblical time threshing and winnowing of wheat. Extended waiting periods she compares to winnowing, which is when they took a large pitchfork and threw the wheat up into the air. The chaff would get carried away by the wind, but the heavier wheat would fall back to the ground. This would "purify" the wheat. In such, we are winnowed by waiting periods as we are "purified." I decided to do some research on verses in the Bible that speak to winnowing:

Luke 3:17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Jeremiah 15:7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork at the city gates of the land. I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people, for they have not changed their ways.

Jeremiah 4:11-12 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them."

From the verses that I looked over (more than I listed here) it appears winnowing was used by God as both a cleansing/purifying tool as well as a tool for judgement.
I am so grateful that God loves us enough to spend the time to purify and cleanse us, even when the process is painful.