Refined
by Fire
In
all 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 the proven genuineness
of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined
by fire – may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. –
1 Peter 1:6-7
Deepening your faith is
a little bit like baking a cake. If you do it right, you’ll love the end
result. If you do it wrong you’ll end up with a big mess.
Our recipe book is the
Bible. It tells us exactly what to do in most any situation. Don’t let others
tell you it isn’t relevant in today’s world. The only ones who say that are the
ones who don’t read it. It’s amazing how many things we think of as being of
this time are actually repeats of long ago.
Once you decide on a
recipe, you have to make sure you’ve got all the ingredients. You need salvation,
prayer, the fruit of the Spirit, an open heart (where you pour the “batter”),
an open hand (to let go of things) and a willing Spirit (to be open to what God
calls you to).
What do you do with all
the ingredients? You mix them together. Do you sometimes get flour on the
floor? Do you ever drip anything on the counter? Probably so. That’s how life
is. We’re heading straight to where we believe God has called us to go and we’re
making a mess along the way. And that’s okay. Fortunately, God never leaves us
to navigate life on our own.
Does the cake always come
out like you planned? Probably not. Sometimes you think something is going to taste
wonderful and it just doesn’t. And sometimes you don’t have a lot of faith in
what you’re baking but it turns out better than you could have imagined. That’s
how it is when you follow Jesus. Things rarely turn out the way you planned but
it’s amazing what happens when we turn it over to Him.
Of course, you’ve got
to pour the batter into a pan and bake it. Heat turns the batter into something
new, something wonderful to eat. It’s that way with our faith. Our faith isn’t
about standing on the sidelines. It’s about getting into the game of life and
trying.
How do you know when
the cake is done? It smells good, doesn’t it? My Mother taught me to use a
wooden toothpick to stick in the center. If it comes out clean, that means the
cake is done. If not, the cake goes back into the oven.
I wonder if that’s what
God does with us. We go through a trial and we reach the other side. If it has
truly changed our hearts, we’re done. If it hasn’t, back into the fire we go.
God is patient. He will send us back to the fire however many times it takes
for us to become more like His Son.
When the cake is
finally done, does it resemble the batter you put into the oven? No. The
ingredients are the same but the cake looks and tastes different, doesn’t it?
Just like we’re different after we’ve been through the fire.
What changes? Maybe we’re
a little more compassionate. Maybe we have more confidence that God truly is in
control and everything will be okay. Maybe we’re a little kinder. Maybe we have
more mercy for those who don’t quite meet our standards.
Of course, the fire
destroys some people. Their hearts harden and they turn away from God. They
failed to understand that bad is part of life and the only thing, the only One,
who can carry us and turn it to good is Jesus.
Have you been through
the fire? Did you come out changed for the better or for the worse? Think about
it.
