By Andrew Williams
Opening Prayer:
Refining Fire, burn away everything in us that is not of you, and make our faith pure and strong.
Today’s Scripture: 1 Peter 1:6-7(NLT)
“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 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 honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
No one enjoys trials. When we are in the middle of spiritual resistance, it feels painful and destructive. And from the enemy’s perspective, that is the goal—to destroy your faith. But God is so powerful and so wise that He takes the very fire the enemy meant for your destruction and uses it for your purification.
Peter uses the image of gold being refined. To get pure gold, you have to turn up the heat. The intense fire doesn’t harm the gold itself; it only burns away the dross—the impurities, the worthless bits mixed in. In the same way, the heat of spiritual warfare burns away the impurities in our lives: things like pride, self-reliance, fear, and shallow belief. It forces us to cling to what is real, to what is eternal.
The enemy attacks you to prove your faith is fake. God allows the trial to prove your faith is genuine. Every time you endure, every time you choose to trust God despite the heat, your faith is being proven real and is becoming more pure. God is using the pressure to make you into something precious and beautiful that will bring Him glory.
Disciple’s Life Tip:
Ask God a brave question today: “Lord, what impurities are you burning away in my life through my current struggles?” Don’t ask this to feel shame, but to cooperate with His purifying work in you.
Closing Prayer: God, thank you that no pain is wasted in your economy. Use the fires in our lives to refine us and make us more like Jesus. Amen.
