If you were told that the promise of the gospel was a perfect life, then you were lied to. Certainly, God blesses and protects His children. But trials and troubles are not just unavoidable - they’re necessary for your spiritual strengthening and growth. Here’s what the Bible says:

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 to the whole world. (1 Peter 1:7, NLT)

Just as fire purifies and tests gold, so trials purify and test your faith. When the pressure is on, when there seems to be good reason to doubt, when troubles come from every side, when you don’t know how you’ll make it - that’s when the nature of Christ is made manifest in you. Fire reveals and eliminates impurities from gold. Trials expose and correct the impurities of heart, mind, and motive. 

When the temperature rises and you feel as though you’ve reached the breaking point, if you’ll trust the Lord, He will make good use of the testing. Not a moment of sorrow, anguish, or pressing will be wasted by the masterful hand of God. 

When gold is under fire, the refiner will watch the process. He will patiently wait. It’s not until he can see his reflection in the gold that he knows it has been purified. Likewise, in every trial, as those flaws in our character and nature are burned and melted away, God sees that the trial has served its purpose when He can see Himself in you. 

So when the testing of your faith comes, and it will, just remember that, in the end, you will be that much more like Jesus in every way. Tried by fire, made like Christ.

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