Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:3-7 (NIV)
Our flesh often recoils at the term “refined by fire”, Amen? Yet that is precisely how God grows great faith. The choicest buildings have the deepest foundations and the strongest trees have the deepest roots. And remember, God does not look towards us to strengthen our faith through eyes of shallow diagnosis or superficial prescriptions, Amen? Look at Abraham the Father of our faith. The fire of the testings he endured produced in him an assured confidence, a steely determination, to stand firm in the Lord, mature and fully assured. Though often sorely difficult, it is the saftest place for our feet to be. He is with us in the fire – much like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who also were servants of the Most High God. Indeed, fires are the training ground for great faith. God is desirous for us to understand our sin, ourselves and our Great Savior. Christ is the only sure road for one’s heart. And He teaches us by degrees, Amen?
God wants His children to depend upon Him – not the world, not others – but Him. And He is faithful and able to cause us to stand even in the most trying of circumstances. Our Christlike reactions to our trials grabs the attention of the unsaved because they are so otherworldly in their natures. That is why Paul tells us to do everything without complaining or arguing so that we may be blameless and pure children of God – even in the hard. His desire is for us to shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the word of life. Pain is pain. Yet as believers our pain always has purpose – it often burns away the dross and makes us more and more conformed into the image of Jesus – and believe me we want that.
The Old Testament saints were famous for many graces. Their righteousness, obedience, and faith enabled them to accomplish great fetes of Christian courage and self-denial. It should be our principal care to get faith and maintain it as it is the most excellent of all graces and it is also the most attacked by the adversary. Satan is against our faith and his fiery arrows are always aimed at that. Jesus prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail a prayer that we should pray for ourselves. Defects in our lives will come from decay of our faith.
For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Proverbs 2:6-8 (NIV)
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ** James 1:12 (NIV)**