Isaiah 48:10 “I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
Have you ever been in the furnace of affliction? It’s possible that you’re already there as you read this. It is excruciating and frequently perplexing. First, we want to know what God is doing and why He is doing it. It appears to be so unjust. If, on the other hand, you choose to accept the process rather than fight against it, you will find that God is at work in your life doing something wonderful. You just may not see it until you are on the other side and look back.
God loves us the way we are, but He loves us so much that He cannot allow us to remain in that state. His purpose is to make us conform to the image of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Who is the Lord. The difficulty is that we don’t change very often when we see the light, but we do change very frequently when we feel the heat!
The degree of heat and the length of time you spend in the furnace are entirely up to you. In the same way that valuable metal is refined to remove impurities, God’s plan for us to go through the furnace at times is to remove the impurities in our lives that are not Christ-like. The refiner is able to determine that the procedure is finished when He can see His reflection clearly in the molten metal. When all of the slag, which is the material that is wasted during the smelting process, is removed, the metal is in its purest form.
Peter was able to appreciate the crucible of suffering on a personal level. It was later in his first letter that he wrote about it. At the time, he was encouraging followers of Christ who were also going through the furnace of suffering in their lives.
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 honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
James must have also experienced the same in his life.
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Be encouraged today – He is doing a deeper work in you so that He may accomplish a greater work through you for His glory.