Surviving the Fire...

June 30, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.” Psalm 66:10.

Anyone watching the news lately is aware the world stage is heating up. We are learning more about animosity and threats towards our country than we have seen in a long while. Yet it is ironic how little many of us understand about those countries themselves, or how we contributed to some of the problems.

Right now people are starving while governments make nuclear weapons partly with money from the very countries claiming to be “peacemakers”. Meanwhile, the mess the world helped to create is becoming a nuclear bomb instead of a missile.

Such is the same with life in general. In every life lesson we need to remember that no matter how wrong we like to think others are, we all have a contribution to a problem. As a believer in Christ, we know our contribution through a conviction from the Holy Spirit. He convicts us of what we do wrong, not to make us suffer, but to make us understand that we should strive to do better.

“But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:7-11. Jesus would no longer be there to talk to His disciples, and the Holy Spirit would be sent to live within Christians to guide them. One of the ways to do that is through conviction.

Once you feel that conviction, what you do with it is your choice. However, God is a positive God and seeks to make us better. Many of us miss that point and allow the experience to make us bitter. Instead of admitting our faults and asking for forgiveness and praising God for showing us our own need to change, we turn it around; get defensive and start pointing fingers and blaming others. Others will not believe they have a contribution to a problem, and will simply go to God through a painful situation screaming “why me?” In any event, patience is required to go the distance. “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9.

God operates in a system of Checks and Balances, and accountability for sins is key. As the author of justice, the very things we hold others accountable for to protect our safety, such as crime, God must do on a much higher level. His standards are so high that hatred is considered murder and lust is considered adultery. As the perfect Creator of the Universe we should expect nothing less. He holds people accountable for their own safety as well, through conviction, so people will strive for change and not allow themselves to fall into sin. To sin means to “miss the mark”, and that is what it is. It means you did not handle something correctly. Without God in charge of every aspect of your life, that will happen at least nine times out of ten, as it does with all of us.

He is the Father and we are His children. When you trust in Him and stand by Him while bearing your consequence, He will turn every effort and step you take in His name into a positive for His glory. “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:3-5.

Those who come to God to allow Him to guide them through a time bringing change in their life, even if they are screaming “why me”, are taught one of the hardest lessons of all. That lesson is how to live on faith and trust God no matter what the world throws at them. This is the “when” time period and the point where you can learn and grow. The “why” of an experience is what God is always looking at. He examines our motives. It is not the “what” you are doing, but the “why” you are doing it that He will judge you on. Otherwise self-defense could never be an excuse for murder.

The “when” period while waiting on God to end our painful experience is the point where you are tested the hardest. Because we are naturally impatient and feel things are not happening quickly enough, we convince ourselves that if God does not move in a dramatic fashion then He is not answering us. Through the silence however, He is answering you louder than you think. He has told us that we must live by faith and not by sight. In your “when” period God holds true to His word, as He always does. At that moment you feel impatient because you do not have instant gratification. That is where you must place your hope in what is “unseen”, and that is your faith in Him. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1.

He is training you to live in line with His word, and when you do He knows that you will experience true hope, joy, and peace on a level you have never known. “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Roman 8:24-25. There is no law that says His answer has to be one that instantly gratifies. True answers that come from a loving Father will likely teach you a lesson over time. That is because His goal is to make sure you are stronger and better in the future.

When you feel He is not answering you, make sure you are looking for the lesson you can learn, and do not give up your faith in Him. During this time you may be going through a horrible life situation and are waiting for an answer, and you grow desperate. Something, somewhere is attempting to convince you to believe only in the “seen” and then you start doing things on your own. When you do you are setting yourself up for another fall because you have shown God that you did not learn your lesson. God is the One and only One who will not fail you.

“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13. Your body contains the Holy Spirit within you as a Christian, and the Holy Spirit is part of the Holy Trinity. God cannot disown Himself. Just because you fall in faith does not mean that He will abandon you. He will keep sticking it out with you, time and again, but you will learn your lesson eventually. When you are patient, you show God you will live on faith, and He will reward you.

During the “when” period there is no better hand to hold you than God’s. The Bible tells us as much seen in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were brought before King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon because they refused to worship other gods and would only worship their God, our Father in Heaven. King Nebuchadnezzar told them that if they did not fall down and worship the golden image he created that he would throw them into a blazing furnace. Then he asks them, “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?". Daniel 3:13-15.

The three men replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Daniel 3:16-18. Thus, we know that they were willing to go forward into a horrible situation with hope in God to save them. Even if God did not save them, they knew that they would be saved in the final judgment after this life, so they had no fear whether or not they died. They loved God, and perfect love always casts out fear. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18.

When they were taken to the blazing furnace, the fire was so hot that it killed the soldiers who took the three men to throw them in. One of the King’s advisers went back to the King, “He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." Daniel 3:25.

The King went and called the three men to come out of the furnace, and we are told, “So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.” Daniel 3:26-27.

There are many important points to this story that we should remember during a life trial. First, God never leaves us. The fourth man in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was the Son of God, Jesus. When you are facing a hard life situation, He is going through it with us. He is in the trenches where we are fighting it out by our side.

Second, when we show Him that we are serving Him only and no other, although others may doubt us, He will deliver us. Remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not want to go into the furnace, but were willing to do so to serve their God and no other. They told us that even if God did not save them from the furnace, they were going forward in His name regardless. Obviously they were not sure what God was going to do, but they weren’t impatient with the lack of an instant answer. They went forward in faith knowing Whom they served.

God is refining us continually, working to remove the impurities and striving to make us see the potential he placed inside of us. However, often when we ask for His guidance, the Holy Spirit convicts us that we need to change something, and at that moment we tend to run away from the message. When we do that we are telling God that we want Him to answer our prayer but only with an answer acceptable to us. However, that was never the way it was intended to be. We cannot work to make God do things that are acceptable to us; instead we must work to make sure we are acceptable to Him. He saved us through His grace, and your own love for His sacrifice should drive you to do better because you know He always has your best interests at heart.

Don’t let the conviction go in vain and allow you to become bitter. He doesn’t want a minute of your pain wasted on the negative. He wants you to turn it around and show the world your power to overcome anything through His strength. When you complain about how long something is taking you are like a child begging to get off of restrictions for stealing a car. You don’t want your child to get hurt, and God doesn’t want you to either. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4.

All good things come from God, and when you are walking in His name you will grow in each of the good points. That includes patience; however, it is not just given to you, it is something that takes time. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23.

Allowing Him to guide your every move while you wait it out with Him patiently, is the biggest and hardest lesson of all, but remember He is refining you. He is taking out the impurities and the things that will harm you. Remember that it is much better to have yourself refined in the furnace than it is to be completely burned in it. The goal of refining is to make you pure and polished; therefore, don’t expect the task to be easy.

Do not focus on the lack of ease, but remember why the product is being refined in the first place.

Something once lacking in value is becoming great in its worth.