Psalms 66:10 – For You, O God, tested us; You refined us like silver.
Our God is interested in refining us so that we would be without blemishes. He is committed to testing us in our faith and trust in Him. His knowledge about us is perfect and He knows all our strengths and weaknesses. His tests are for our own sake. He leads us through tests that He has ordained in our lives. He teaches us trust as we go through the tests. He helps us to evaluate ourselves through these tests and learn lessons about the trustworthiness of our Lord and the lack of faithfulness on our part. As He tests us, He sends us through various experiences which are new every time. He proves to us that we need to put our total dependence on Him in all our situations. As we progress in our sojourn, the intensity of tests will be greater. But the Lord expects us to grow in our dependence on Him to weather away the challenges we face during the tests. As we go through tests, our enemy sends temptations to us to quit or to denounce our faith. He sends doubts and confusions our way to make us waver in our trust in the Lord. But our Lord reminds us that His intentions in the tests that He sends our way are for our good. These tests are meant to refine us so that we would glow for the Lord. When there are blemishes of sin, mistrust and lack of faith in us, the Lord would not be able to use us for His cause. So He sends us through fire or water to purify us. He turns the thermostat of our situations up and intensifies the heat. But we must realize that throughout the process of purification, our heavenly Silversmith will not leave us. He will be with us to strengthen us. He will cheer us up and tell us that this heat is good for us and that we will be in the heat only for a little while. He will also tell us that the more He purifies us, the greater will be our usefulness for Him. The heat of the refining process will be offset by the comfort our Lord pours into our hearts. He will teach us patience as we go through the refining process. After we go through it all, we would certainly see that it was good that we had gone through the heat and the flood of His tests.
Dear reader, are you going through some tough tests today? Is the heat increasing hour by hour? Are you feeling alone when you go through the present tests that the Lord sent your way? Remember, the Silversmith is always with the silver as it is in the fire. He never takes His eyes off or keeps away from you while He purifies you. The heat is just right to purify you and will never be more than the grace He gives you to take it. He cannot use you unless He keeps sanctifying you through His methods. Well-meaning silver will never fear fire because it is imperative that you are purified by it. Our Lord purified Job and he came out blameless even in the eyes of Satan and Job’s friends. The process of purification increased the usefulness of Apostle Paul. The greater the heat, the sweeter were the songs of praise that came out of David. The purification process through the Red Sea made Israel sing a sweet song of praise. Joseph had to be prepared through intense tests for greater responsibilities in Egypt. Through it all, he became mature, patient and conscious of the pathways the Lord allowed him to go through for the preservation of the lineage of the Messiah. Dear reader, the world has yet to see why you are going through the present experiences. But your Lord knows what He is doing in you and why He has been allowing the heat of the tests that He has sent your way. But through the tests, He will also give you the grace to bear the heat and come out purer and nobler for His name’ sake.
James 1:3 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Thought for TodayThe Lord is with us through the tests and keeps us in His hands so that we will not know the weariness of the process.
