When God Tests Us by Fire

“In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:6-7, AMP)

In my sophomore year of college, I took a pottery class. I liked to take at least one creative class per semester to help blow of some steam and provide some sort of therapeutic break from essay writing and book reading, but mostly I took that class because it included a unit on throwing pottery. In other words, there was a large part of the semester that involved sitting at a pottery wheel, and that seemed like it would be a fun experience.

Except there’s a lot of technique that goes into that. You have to get a hang for the right amount of moisture in the clay. Make the clay too dry and the clay won’t submit to the shape you’re trying to mold; too wet and it will be a sloppy, muddy mess that will either take forever to dry out or prove itself utterly impossible to mold into anything. There’s a learning curve to actually throwing the clay: where to put it on the wheel, how much clay to use if you’re just starting out, the methods of making the clay workable, how much height, depth, or thickness to make a good ceramic piece. 

What I remember most about pottery was the absolute anxiety of leaving a piece to be fired in the kiln. Because any number of factors could mean your piece doesn’t harden right. If you use too much glaze, the glaze will fuse the piece to the bottom of the kiln. If you make something too thin, your clay will become brittle and crack. If you forget to pound the piece of clay you’re working with before you even start making something, you run the risk of leaving an air bubble in the clay that will expand during the firing process and BOOM- your piece comes out in a pile of shards.

There are a million ways to test the craftsmanship of pottery. Sometimes, being a Christian feels that way.

Sometimes, it feels like God is pounding the air bubbles out of us, or centering us on the pottery wheel, or firmly working us into some sort of shape we never thought we’d take. Sometimes, it feels like we’ve been left on a shelf to dry out. Sometimes, it feels like we’ve been subjected to the fiery trials of the kiln. Like I’ve said many times before over the years of writing on Soul Deep: walking with Jesus and living a life in submission to Him doesn’t mean that we are exempted from trials or hardships. In many ways, it’s almost a guarantee that we will face them.

Any genuine Christian with a rock-solid faith that I look up to has shared this common denominator– they have faced various trials, and at times, suffered in the name of Jesus. And all that shows me is that it takes work to have a deep, genuine, steadfast faith in the Lord.

A common misconception is that when we face a test of faith, God is testing us to ascertain the belief we have in Him, as if it could ever be a surprise to Him how much we trust Him. He is sovereign. He is all knowing. If we believe those things, don’t you think He already knows before you face a trial whether or not you have a level of faith that can carry you to the other side of the test, or a level of faith that can be stretched enough to get us there? Of course He does. 

Tests of faith are for us to see just how genuine our faith is. Because sometimes, we’re like Peter. Sometimes, we strut our stuff around and try to make other people believe we are holier than thou. Sometimes, we are fake humble in the way we lead other people on to believe we are these faith rockstars, when in reality, we have deep-rooted doubt grieving God in our hearts.

When God tests our faith– when he holds us in the kiln and allows us to be tested by fire– it’s to make us stronger. If we are clay, that is to say if we are malleable and easily manipulated before the trial, then the testing of our faith is to make it stronger and help us come to the other side like a hardened piece of pottery. Can a clay pot hold water, retain its shape, or be utilized as a functional utensil? No. It has to be fired and strengthened before it can be used.

Peter writes in his first letter to the Church and likens tests of faith to the refining process for gold. Similar to pottery, gold has to be refined by fire to remove its imperfections before it can be made into whatever it’s being made into. In order to use that gold, the dross of the raw ore has to be removed, and the only way to remove those rock impurities is to heat the ore past the burning point of those other materials to where only the gold persists.

Peter says to us that our faith in God and our relationship with Him is even more precious than gold, one of the most resilient and valuable metals in the world. And just the way gold needs to be refined and tested, our faith does as well. So when we are tested friends, it’s not so that God can check in on where we are in our love for Him. It’s so that we can see the resilience of our faith. 

Many will fall away from the Lord when exposed to His refining fire. Many will go back on their pursuit of Him when they feel the heat of the kiln. So when you find yourself in the middle of that test, draw near to the Lord and hold fast to Him. Remember that even for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo, the Lord stood in the middle of that fiery furnace with them. He was shoulder to shoulder with them in the middle of their struggle.

In the middle of those trials, we often are given a beautifully precious moment where we can see Jesus better. He reveals Himself to us just a little bit more in the presence of those tests, and that strengthens us to keep going until we have seen it through. And who might you inspire to keep going through their own trials, just by witnessing you persevere through yours?

So if you’re struggling through that trial of faith today, be encouraged. God is giving you an opportunity to strengthen and stretch your faith. He is inviting you to come deeper and have a more intimate relationship with Him. When all is said and done, your faith will be more and more precious than it was at the onset, and more resilient to withstand the days to come.