Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye
are in heaviness through manifold
temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being
much more precious than of gold
that perisheth, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ:
Whom having not seen, ye love;
in whom, though now ye see him not,
yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory.
I Peter 1:6-8
The other day, I had to go for an appointment with a urology surgeon as it appeared that I had a serious problem that needed to be treated. I had to go through a very uncomfortable process of examination. I looked at the good doctor and said, “May I tell you that I really do hate this.” He smiled and said that he would wonder about me if I didn't. Tests and trials of any kind are experiences we don't care for. If we do, people would probably wonder about us.
The books of I and II Peter are wonderful books that prepare Christians for suffering. Once in the middle of a trial is a little late to dig into these two books, but it wouldn't hurt to read them frequently. It is believed that Peter was in Rome at the writing of these books. Within two or three years, Peter would pay with his life the price of being a Christian, the kind of Christian Nero the insane leader of the day feared. Peter saw suffering on the horizon of his life and was led of the Holy Spirit to write these two wonderful books.
I have often taught these two books in ladies Bible study sessions. They can be of great comfort when going through a tough time but they have the added benefit of preparing one for the toughest of times. Peter wastes no ink or paper with frivolous words. He begins up front talking about trials, testing and yes, even the refining process God allows in our lives.
The process of refining is not a picnic in any sense of the word. Ask a stalk of sugar cane what it is to go from a field where it grows into the canister that sits on your kitchen sink...the cutting, slicing, smashing,drying, and then granulating process. Glad I'm not a stalk of sugar cane but must admit there have been times when in the midst of trial, I've felt just about like that stalk of sugar cane.
Not so much anymore, but we've heard of young ladies of the past who were sent to refinishing school so that they might become refined young ladies that would make any parent proud. They spent hours sitting at tables learning dining etiquette. They seemed to walk miles with books on their heads, learning how to walk in a lady-like manner. When they graduated from those schools, they had been through the rigors and for what...that they would be refined and proper in every way.
Should we expect less as we view our faith? Peter equates the refining process with trials and “manifold” temptations (a variety of testings, trials).
Verse 6 introduces us to the process. With all we have going for us as Christians, as children of God, we have every reason to be people who rejoice. Peter assures us that our trials will be temporary but that they will create in us a heaviness of spirit. Otherwise, we aren't looking at a Sunday school picnic. The simple fact is that God must see something of great quality in us to allow these tough times to purify and clean us up for His glory.
So how does He do it...the refining process. Verse 7 clues us in...God wants you and me to be people strong in their faith. The way to strengthen that faith is for the faith to be tested and tried. It is compared to gold that is put in a refining pot and placed over great heat. The gold begins to melt down ever so slowly. As the heat increases more and more, so the gold is heated to an extremely high temperature. However, the refiner sits right there by the pot keeping a careful eye on the gold. Little by little, impurities rise to the surface. The refiner has a tool whereby he can skim the impurities off of the surface. He keeps doing this until almost no detectable purities can be seen. He knows when the purifying is completed as much as can be when he looks onto the surface of that very hot gold and sees there his own reflection. Do you know what I love about this process? Malachi 3:3 speaks of just such a refining process when God was refining His people. This verse says:
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver:
and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge
them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto
the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Do you see what I see in that verse? God, the refiner sits right by that refining pot, keeping His eye on the process. He doesn't allow you and me to go through a tough time while walking away to do something else until our trial is over. He sits beside our refining process, with us in it all. When does God know our refining process has reached completion? A good way of telling is when His reflection can be seen in our lives.
Peter understood in verse 8 that for those he was writing to, they had not seen Jesus in the flesh as he had but they had learned enough about Him to love and believe in Him. We are in the same position as those receiving Peter's words. It is our faith that needs building and strengthening. Hopefully, the result for us will be that through any trial, we can rejoice in Him through the roughest of times. Hopefully this joy will be such a rich joy that we can't explain it or describe it but that it will be full of God's glory. Every trial and test is to point others to Jesus. We live in a sick and sorry world and people need to see that in the hardest days of our own lives, there is hope and joy in Jesus.
If not in the middle of a trial right now, every Christian has a trial waiting around the corner. May we be strengthened through His Word in days prior to such times. Refining will still be painful, but we will know and trust the Great Refiner in our lives so much more. Just knowing He is sitting there, supervising the process is enough to get through our times of testing and trial. Our Heavenly Father always does all things well and in the process we will reap a “joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.”
Dear Father...Please sit right there with me, encouraging my heart as I face any trial You see fit to allow into my life. May I be faithful in my trust and may I come through any trial loving You more than ever before. I love You, Father and place my life in Your loving hands. Amen.
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