You’ve probably heard the saying, “God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way.”
Although it’s a little cliche, this quote holds some truth for each one of us.
“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1 Peter 1:7
Ever found yourself in a season of life where you just feel like the storm is winning? I am sure you have screamed out “Lord, when will it end?” The good news is that with each faith-testing experience, our ability to navigate these trials and trying times becomes easier and our faith deepens and strengthens.
In the scripture in 1 Peter, God compares our faith to precious metal – gold. Gold doesn’t come out of the earth the way it looks in a jewellery store – all shiny and polished. It comes out as this hard nugget that is dark, dull, and misshapen -nothing like what we expect.
A refiner takes the gold and slowly melts it, carefully raising the temperature – but never to the point of boiling. As it melts, the impurities rise to the surface and are removed, leaving behind a beautiful pot of pure gold. Here’s the amazing part: the refiner knows the gold is ready only when he can look into his melted pot of gold and see his own reflection. In other words, the only way gold will become more precious is when it’s placed in the fire.
It’s the same in our lives – often, the impurities of our lives must be exposed to the heat of fire so that the Lord can scrape up the filth that us revealed under “fire.” And just like the refiner, God will never allow us to get to the boil. Finally, at just the right moment, God looks upon us and see’s the beauty of His reflection in our lives.
Let’s not loathe the trials we’re facing today, rather let’s try and accept them. Acknowledging that the Lord is using these things to prepare us to do greater things for Him. Instead of anger or bitterness use this season to rather ask the Lord how you can grow in grace and faith – what it is he is wanting us to leave behind in order for us to become better versions of ourselves. And if you aren’t in a season of storm, if you aren’t feeling the heat of the fire – and if you feel brave enough – maybe you can pray the words of the song Refiner:
“I wanna be tried by fire, Purified. You take whatever you desire. Lord here’s my life!”
But know – when you pray this prayer, you need to be ready for what God has in store for you!
GOD LOVES YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE, BUT HE LOVES YOU TOO MUCH TO LET YOU STAY THAT WAY.