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Refined in the Fire
.
Perhaps you feel like
you’re in a refiner’s fire — feeling the heat of setbacks, illness, or other
challenges. But hardship is often the process by which God purifies the gold of
our faith. In our pain we might beg God to quickly end the process, but He
knows what’s best for us, even when life hurts. Keep connected to the Savior,
seeking His comfort and peace. We can embrace by faith
the record of Scripture and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives as
evidence of the truth of what we’ve not seen but believed “For we live by
faith, not by sight”
Our Daily Bread
Read: 1 Peter 1:6–9
“These
trials will show that your faith is genuine.” - 1 Peter 1:7 NLT
Twenty-four–karat
gold is nearly 100 percent gold with few impurities.
But
that percentage is difficult to achieve.
Refiners
most commonly use one of two methods for the purification process.
The
Miller process is the quickest and least expensive, but the resulting gold
is only about 99.95 percent pure.
The
Wohlwill process takes a little more time and costs more, but the gold produced
is 99.99 percent pure.
In
Bible times, refiners used fire as a gold purifier.
Fire
caused impurities to rise to the surface for easier removal.
In his
first letter to believers in Jesus throughout Asia Minor (northern
Turkey), the apostle Peter used the gold-refining process as a metaphor for the
way trials work in the life of a believer.
At that
time, many believers were being persecuted by the Romans for their faith in
Christ.
Peter
knew what that was like firsthand.
But
persecution, Peter explained, brings out the “genuineness of [our] faith”
(1 Peter 1:7).
But hardship is often the process by which God
purifies the gold of our faith.
In our pain we might beg God to quickly end
the process, but He knows what’s best for us, even when life hurts.
Keep connected to the Savior, seeking His
comfort and peace.
What challenges have you faced that led to your
growth? How did you respond to them?
Father
God, help me see how the trials of my life bring out the gold in me.
INSIGHT
In 1 Peter 1:8, Peter is
reinforcing an important idea that goes back to the gospel of John.
In John 20:29, the risen
Christ said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
While
we weren’t present when He was physically on this earth, we
can embrace by faith the record of Scripture (1
Corinthians 15:3–4) and
the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Romans 8:16) as evidence of the truth of what we’ve not
seen but believed (John
16:13–15).
As Paul wrote, “For we live by faith, not
by sight” - (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Bible
in a Year: Psalms 97–99; Romans 16
Our mission is to make the
life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all.
Our vision is to see people of all
nations experiencing a personal relationship with Christ, growing to be more
like Him, and serving in a local body of His family.
