A friend who visited me last week used a phrase I am going
to shamelessly pilfer. When we find ourselves in the midst of trials, she said,
welcome the fire.
Trials are not easy by any standard. They are painful,
stressful and usually full of anxiety.
In the midst of it though, it helps to ask these questions:
1. Are you trying to say something to me, God?
2. What do you want me to learn?
The Psalmist knows now the reason for his affliction. He
says in verses 67 & 68:
Before I was
afflicted I went astray,
but now I obey your word.
You are good, and what you do is good;
teach me your decrees.
but now I obey your word.
You are good, and what you do is good;
teach me your decrees.
He recounts the blessing of his suffering in verse 71:
It was good for me to
be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.
so that I might learn your decrees.
John Piper once said in a preach, “The furnace of affliction
in the family of God is always for refinement, never for destruction.”
A refiner’s fire melts down gold or silver, burns up all the
impurities and leaves the precious metal intact.
God takes us through a fire – burns up sin and other
impurities in our life while leaving us intact, pure and holy for Him.
In the intense heat of a trial it if difficult to know how
we will react. If you find yourself today facing trials – whether old or new –
ask God about the journey He is taking your on. There will be purpose
behind it. Welcome His fire.
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