Tried In The Fire
By Rachel V.
“...But he knoweth the way that I take: when he
hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)
One time, my family went to a historic remake of
an old town. It was really neat! There were ladies dressed up in pettycoats and
an old General Store. But what really interested me was the blacksmith. It was
so neat to see them making various things, such as nails and coat hangers,
minurature hammers, horse shoes, and even metal flowers (roses and lillys)! I
was watching them making a lilly, and it was amazing how they did it!
They put the piece of metal into a 18,000 degree
fire and waited. Then they took it out and punded at it. Then they put it back
in the fire then took it out and pounded at it. They did this for the longst
time, and I rememeber thinking, how would the piece of metal ever turn into a
distinguished lily?
Dear one, do you ever feel like this? Do you
ever feel the pain from the things God is sending to you? Do you feel like
Job's wife and want to say “Curse God, and die” (Job 2:9)?
I know, feeling the heat is not easy. Trust me,
if you've never felt like this, it's hard to bear. I've had my own troubles
recently, and I've thought that nothing can work out for my good. There's no
way. What comfort do you have when everything is turned against you, sickness
has come upon you, your own friends, instead of comforting you in your time of
need, tell you something must be wrong with you, and your own wife tells you to curse God and
die?
Well, Job seems to have a comfort that is hard
to obtain. “The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean
hands shall be stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9) “For I know that my redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God”
(Job 19:25-26) “I know that thou canst do every thing,
and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” (Job 42:2)
Psalm 42:5 says: “Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet
praise him for the help of his countenance.”
Jesus says in Revalation 3:18a, “I counsel thee
to buy of me gold tried in the fire...” “Behold, I have refined thee, but not
with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10)
“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as
silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my
name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say,
The LORD is my God.” (Zechariah 13:9)
Do you know the process of purifying gold? Gold,
before being refined, has many impurities. Just like us. To take out those
impurities, it has to be melted down by temeratures over melting. Then, when
cooled, it is pure.
Back to the blacksmith example. I asked those
blacksmiths why they put it into such a hot fire. They told me that the hotter
it gets, the softer the metal is, and therefore it is easer to mold into shapes
and such. They said that when metal is so hot, it is just like clay, and is
able to be molded into something beautiful.
Dear ones, you may wonder at the hardships in
your life, the struggles and perplexities, but as the prophet says in Isaiah
64:8: “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our
potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” “O house of Israel, cannot I do
with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's
hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.” (Jerimiah 18:6)
Brethren, God puts you in these hard times so
you will come forth as gold. As “silver tried in the furnace seven times”
(Psalm 12:6) And so also you can be molded into the image of Him who created
you. Like that iron that was put into the fire, without the heat and dicomfort,
it wouldn't have been so easily molded by the blacksmith's tools into a
beautiful piece of artwork.
So be comforted by Christ's words “Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew
11:28) We may not see what God has in plan for us, we can not see what all
these troubles will do for us, but trust me, God has a plan to make “all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Do not give up hope. Do not curse God. His plans
are good, and true, and just. Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be
happy in Jesus.
“My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.”
~Author Unknown
