There are challenges in our lives that take us right to the edge of what we think we can endure. Our natural instincts and emotions make us want to fast forward and escape a situation that’s distressing, uncertain, and painful. We’re more than concerned. We’re afraid.
The saying “forged in the crucible” is sometimes used to describe the intense pressure soldiers and athletes experience during combat or competition. It’s a time of testing and uncomfortable to the extreme. Crucibles are cup or pot-like vessels that hold metal or ore to be refined. In the case of gold, a torch or melting furnace is used to heat it until it becomes molten at almost 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. This process dissolves, separates, and removes impurities, leaving only the pure gold.
In the Bible, we read there’s another type of refining process that happens inside us. Proverbs 17:3 (NLT) says:
“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart.”
As humans, we wonder why God would allow events in our lives to bring us to our knees. That’s the answer, isn’t it? To get our attention so we come to Him humbly and put our priorities in order.
Sometimes we’re going in the wrong direction, further and further away from God. In His mercy, He dramatically stops us from even more harm.
Sometimes we–or someone we love–will receive a serious medical diagnosis and we face the fact that we all will die. It’s time to choose whether our eternal soul will live on in either Heaven or hell–as the Bible teaches us–before it’s too late! Our ultimate and perfect healing will be eternal in Heaven.
Other times it may be financial and our reserves are drying to dust. We can’t pay our bills and need to move at the same time in an expensive economy. We’re reminded that God alone supplies all our needs and every blessing comes from Him. As believers, we can choose to pray and leave the pressure and our burdens with the Lord, learning to trust Him on a whole new level–then watch to see with our own eyes what He will do. He miraculously supplied manna to the Israelites in the desert, one day at a time, and He’s the same God today.
Trials can also make us aware of how others have serious needs we can help with. God also works through people, as I’ve seen in my own life. His design is that we are part of a family, a community, and one body, His true church.
The blessings that come from being in the crucible are on a deeply spiritual, personal, life-changing level between us and our Heavenly Father.
What kind of insights are revealed to us when we’re tested?
- We don’t have all the answers or the power we thought we had when things were going well.
- Money and possessions are meaningless compared to our health or the health of a loved one.
- We’re not infallible or immune to what we think are “other people’s problems.”
- When our pride and selfishness are broken, we see our deep need for God has always been there.
Trials for the Christian can prove our faith is authentic:
- We learn to anchor ourselves to the promises of God, knowing that He is faithful and will keep every one because He says He will.
- We can ride out the storm, knowing for a fact He will never leave us or forsake us (read Deuteronomy 31:8 and Hebrews 13:5).
- We can stay steady and keep moving forward in God’s mighty strength, open to what He’s revealing about Himself and teaching us.
- We can be assured our faith and trust is growing for a purpose in personal ways we wouldn’t otherwise experience.
Being refined in our heart and soul is far above the value of a temporary Earth metal. 1 Peter 1:6-7 (NLT) tells us this about our trials:
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold–though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
Let’s come back to the men and women who are soldiers and athletes. The reason they’re able to go through the process of being “forged in the crucible” is because they’ve prepared for it by training daily–beforehand. It’s just as important for us to train every day before any of our own trials begin: staying close to God in prayer, being strengthened by knowing His Word, and doing what it says.
In the book of Job we read about a man who endured a crucible that was extreme to the extreme. He struggled for a time with questions as we all do, but he makes this statement that gives us perspective and encouragement from one who’s been there. Job 23:10-12 (NLT):
“But He knows where I am going. And when He tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed His ways and not turned aside. I have not departed from His commands, but have treasured His words more than daily food.”
RESET HIGHER: In what way have you been transformed by trials? What blessings have you experienced by being in the crucible?
How is your daily training going? Go for the (pure) gold!
