“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy”. 1 Peter 4:12-13.
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” – Thomas Paine
Oftentimes we are faced with the question of what could be going wrong with us when we face daunting situations even as we strive to lead a Godly life.
We expect that godliness should exempt us from fiery trials and should be a lot of the disobedient only.
Many wrongly assume that when they draw near to God in prayer and holy living then their trouble will melt away.
But we forget that there is the trial of the disobedient due to the wages of his sin and there is another trial of the obedient since he must be purified with fire to turn him into refined gold.
In a genuine relationship with God, the ultimate objective is not to make him our professional problem solver but with Him, problems are to make us stronger like an athlete in the gym so that we may become effective witnesses of His grace.
Many miss the work of God in their lives because they are taught that God is a problem solver true, but they are not properly taught about the God who seeks to refine us like gold so that His character may shine through us- which is the ultimate goal of His fellowship with us.
Unrefined Gold is very dense, and lacks beauty but as the gold is melted impurities come to the surfaces as it melts down. Those impurities are then scrapped off and the beauty of the gold shines through.
Such is the trial of the faith of a Christian. His sinful nature can only be dealt with by God oftentimes through fiery trials with the sole aim of distilling from him the Christ-like quality of humility and grace.
We are tested so that we may be able to comfort others who come through the same ordeal with the same comfort that God has provided for us during our trials.
In other words, the trial of our faith requires patience so that God can train and use us to comfort those who need the love and comfort of God.
The good news in the midst of our trials and training is that God has promised never to leave us or forsake us and He has also promised that with the trial He will make a way of escape- meaning that he knows the right time to extinguish the fire of trial so that we are not destroyed or abandoned in the process.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all”.Psalm 34:19
God is Love and whatever He does is for a purpose and the ultimate goal of such trials is to perfect us in the faith but not to humiliate or disgrace us.
We are instruments of his grace: We are not called to be the sole consumers of his grace but the distributors of His mercies.
Therefore we have this unshakable hope that whatever we are going through will not destroy us but will only make us stronger for the sole purpose of becoming the instrument of divine grace and testimony.
Reading
2 Corinthians Chapter 4
