“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD,
Zechariah 13:8-9 KJV
two parts therein shall be cut off and die;
but the third shall be left therein.
And I will bring the third part through the fire,
and will refine them as silver is refined,
and will try them as gold is tried:
they shall call on my name, and I will hear them:
I will say, It is my people:
and they shall say, The LORD is my God.“
Today it is believed that as Christians, when we go through the trials and tribulations that come our way, we are somehow being punished by God, but all one has to do is to read the account of Job. The life of Job clearly shows us that we are not being punished through trials but rather we are being refined.
The Lord permitted the devil to try Job, Job 1:8-12; Job 2:3-6, so that through the affliction, Job would be refined as silver is refined and tried as gold is tried. By remaining faithful through it all, Job was well rewarded by God and this lesson was written for all mankind, that we may also know and understand “that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose”, Romans 8:28 KJV.
As a result of the lukewarm state of the Church today, the professed people of God, have fallen asleep. The Church for the time being is no longer persecuted as it was in the days of the early & middle aged Church, so today, Christians are not used to hardships and afflictions, therefore, because they have “no root”, “when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately” they stumble, Matthew 13:21 NKJV.
But Scripture is clear:
“The LORD trieth the righteous…”
Psalm 11:5 KJV
God permits the fires of affliction to come upon us that we may, through suffering, be made pure as gold. It is His will, that we endure hardships, for when we do, we will draw nigh unto Him, through prayer, through fasting, through the study of the Scriptures, that we may gain strength to endure and then He will draw nigh unto us, James 4:8 KJV
“It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
Psalm 119:71 KJV
that I might learn Thy statutes.”
The Psalmist tells us that it is good when we go through trials and afflictions, for by doing so, we run to Christ in the midst of the fire and we learn of His statutes and His will by spending time in His word. This is all part of the process of sanctification which God is working in us through the ministration of the Holy Spirit.
“The very trials that task our faith most severely and make it seem that God has forsaken us, are to lead us closer to Christ, that we may lay all our burdens at His feet and experience the peace which He will give us in exchange.
Patriarchs & Prophets pg. 129
Take another example found in Scripture – The three Hebrew young men- Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego. Were they not cast into the fiery furnace by the hands of Nebuchadnezzar? Said the king:
” Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.… Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.”
Daniel 3:24-26 KJV
Why fear? When the fiery trials come, “think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you” but rather, draw close to God in prayer and claim the promises of God. He will never leave us nor forsake us. As it was with the three Hebrew young men, the Son of God Himself, Jesus Christ the Righteous, shall be in the midst of the fire with us, preserving us.
Christ Himself has promised:
“when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
Isaiah 43:2 KJV
God Himself weighs every trial that satan wishes to bring before us. As the devil requested permission to tempt and afflict Job, so must he seek the permission of the Most High to afflict us. But God is faithful, He weighs every test before permitting the devil to afflict us for He knows that if we are faithful in the midst of the fire, calling upon Him for the strength to endure the suffering and the affliction and holding fast unto the promises found in His word, we shall, like Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego, “come forth [out] of the midst of the fire”, for He shall preserve us.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV
Friends, we have not suffered as Christ has suffered for us. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, scourged and beaten, pierced through with nails and a spear, His visage was so marred more than any man. And if this wasn’t enough suffering, He was crucified upon the Cross all that we, sinful, fallen mankind, may inherit eternal life through Him. This is Love.
Therefore, when we are afflicted, when the furnace of affliction has been turned up seven times hotter upon us, let us rejoice, inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, that, when His glory shall be revealed [at the 2nd Coming] we may be glad also with exceeding joy. “For I reckon”, says the Apostle Paul, “that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18 KJV.
“But he that endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:13 KJV
Loud Cry Compendium
Loud Cry Compendium 