I just read the following article by Dr. Paul Chappell and wanted to pass it along:
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.”
1 Peter 4:12
Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, He puts him through the fire.
Everyone faces times of adversity. Most of the Psalms were born in difficulty. Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals of England. Semi-paralyzed and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease. During the greater part of his life, American historian Francis Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes at a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history.
Even the most famous of people who seemed to have an easy life, secretly struggled with adversity and suffering. Suffering is not reserved for a certain type of people. We all face adversity at some point in our lives.
Peter writes, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” (1 Peter 4:12). Peter tells us that adversity is to be expected in the life of a Christian. Peter was teaching the early Christians that if they intended to live for God and follow the commands of the Bible, they could expect adversity to come their way.
We live in a society that thrives on vacations, trips to amusement parks, and times of fun. We want things to go smoothly and get all the fun we can out of life. But the reality is that sometimes adversity will come and it is to be expected.
Notice the phrase “think it not strange” in verse twelve. The word strange means “to surprise or astonish by the strangeness or novelty of a thing.” It is as if Peter is saying, “Don’t get caught off-guard by the trials that will come your way. Know that you will face ridicule, challenges, and difficulties as a Christian.”
Notice also the phrase “concerning the fiery trial.” The fiery trial reminds us of the refiner’s fire. The refiner is God, and He brings into our lives the fire that will not burn us, but that will bring out the impurities in our lives. Just as the refiner puts the gold ore in the fire to separate the pure gold from the ore, so God brings adversity to teach us to trust Him and to mature us as His children.
Some Christians fail to see God’s purpose in the fire of adversity and stray from God during this time. They have tried to live for God in their own strength and have desired to follow Him, but the minute a trial came, they turned from God. They didn’t expect hardships, so they stray from God’s work in their lives.
Are you in the refiner’s fire? Is God seeking to refine you through adversity? Friend, don’t let trials separate you from God. God has a purpose for that trial in your life! Even when you don’t understand why or when you can’t see God’s plan, trust that He, as your Heavenly Father, knows what’s best for you and only wants to help you. Spend time with Him now and let Him have His way. Endure the fire, for in the end you will come forth as gold. —-THINK ABOUT IT!
