1 Peter 1:7
“These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.“
None of us enjoy going through difficult times. Trials are not an immediate source of joy. They are hard. They are trying. They bring us to the point of breaking. But Peter tells us that trials serve a higher purpose. Trials refine our faith. They prove its genuineness. The Bible often compares faith to gold. Gold often occurs in combination with other substances. It can be found naturally in rock and other deposits. It can occur mixed with copper or silver. As a result, gold needs to be refined to its purest form in order for it to have value.
Because gold is relatively stable compared to other elements, it can be refined by fire alone. Repeated heating of the gold removes any impurities. In this way, gold could be purified to remove the other elements often found with it to make it more and more pure. Fire was a way of testing the quality of gold in the ancient world.
In the same way, the “fires” of trials that we go through, tests the purity of our faith. If our faith is not firmly rooted and established in Christ Jesus, we will give up in the midst of outside pressure and trials. We won’t follow His example in our suffering and persevere. But if our faith is pure and firmly rooted, we will keep pressing forward. The more our faith is tested, the more we learn to press into God, strengthening our faith and refining it–proving that it is pure faith in God alone and not in our own accomplishments or abilities.
This kind of faith is valuable and rare. It is eternal, unlike the gold it is compared to. Ultimately, it brings glory and praise and honor to Jesus Christ because faith that is pure and true and tested reveals Jesus’ character to the world around us. That’s the kind of faith we are to strive for….the kind of faith that shows Jesus’ to an unbelieving world.
Father, I thank you for the trials I am going through. Even though they are not easy or comfortable or enjoyable, I know they serve a purpose. By enduring these trials well and pressing into you, I become a better reflection of Jesus to the world around me. You are using these struggles to make my faith pure and powerful and valuable. So I pray that you will keep me strong. Help me to lean on you, because your strength is made perfect by my weakness. Help me to remember to thank you when things get rough because you are using it to bring me to higher levels in you. Help me to press on and to reveal Jesus to those who are watching how I handle these tough times. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
A Beautiful Mess 