Faith Amid the Refining Fire

It’s one thing to be in a battle; it’s another not even to see the forces

arrayed in that battle. In a sense, this is what we as Christians deal with.

We know that the forces are out there, we can feel them in our lives,

and yet, we have to press ahead in faith, trusting Him “who is invisible”

(Heb. 11:27, NKJV).

Read Job 23:1–10. What is the essence of Job’s struggle? What does

he not see? At the same time, what does he take on faith, despite

all his trials?

Even amid his terrible trials, Job trusted in the Lord. Despite every-

thing, Job was determined to endure. And one of the things that kept

him persevering was gold—not a gold medal; rather, he was looking

into the future and realized that if he held on to God, he would come

out the better for it—he would come out like gold. How much Job knew

of what was happening behind the scenes, we aren’t told. Regardless of

how much was hidden from him, he endured the refining fire anyway.

Do you fear the fire? Do you worry about the heat that circumstances

generate? Perhaps, as with Job, the heat of God seems unexplainable. It

may be the difficulty of adjusting to a new job or a new home. It could

be having to survive ill treatment at work, or even within your own

family. It could be illness or financial loss. Hard as it is to understand,

God can use these trials to refine you and purify you and bring out His

image in your character.

Being proven to be gold seems to be an incentive for Job here, some-

thing to fix his eyes upon, and that helps pull him through his troubles.

It’s a powerful testimony to his character already that, amid all the pain

and suffering, he was able to sense the reality of the purifying process.

Also, however much he didn’t understand, he knew that these trials

would refine him.

In your own experience, how do trials refine and purify? What

other ways could you be refined, other than through suffering?