“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

The trial of faith is the test of character; it is the furnace that tries the ore to see what kind it is. It may be brass or iron or clay, or perhaps precious gold; but the crucible will test it. There is much that passes for real faith that is no faith; there is much spurious counterfeit metal; it is the trial that brings out its real character. Judas…Simon Magus…Demas did not forsake the apostle until the world drew him away. But true faith stands the trial. Where there is a real work of grace in the heart, no tribulation, persecution, or power of this world will ever be able to expel it; but if all is chaff, the wind will scatter it; if all is but dross and tinsel, the fire will consume it.

Let the humble and tried believer, then, thank God for every test that brings out the real character of his faith, and proves it to be “the faith of God’s elect.” God will try His own work in the gracious soul. Every grace of His own Spirit He will at one time or another place in the crucible, but never will He remove His eye from off it. He will “sit as a refiner,” and watch that not a grain of the precious metal is consumed. He will be with His child in all and every affliction; not for one moment with He leave him.

Let gratitude rather than murmuring, joy rather than sorrow, attend every test which a loving and faithful Father brings to His own gracious work–”that the trial of your faith…might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”

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For every brother of mine that has thrown himself, headlong, into the idolatrous and sometimes overwhelming life of a church planter, realize that the difficulty, the pain, the struggle, the rejection, the betrayal, the criticism, the mockery, and the ever pervading sense of failure is but dross which is bonded to your precious faith. Our Father loves His children far too much to keep these two elements together. He will make seperation occur between what is pure and what is impure. He will shape us into the image of His own beloved Son. He will burn off the impurities until He can see His reflection, His own image, in what is left. If we are to be the kinds of vessels that can be poured out for the sake of the church, for the glory of God, and for the good of this world, our good and gracious King must plunge us into His refiners fire to soften us and make us pliable in His gentle hands. He will shape us into a vessel that is useful for His Kingdom.

Be encouraged at your trials and stand firm. Don’t allow the various trials to throw you off the course which your God has set. If Christ endured the most severe trials, the most intense loss, and the most hideous torture, all that we might, by His stripes, be healed; let us keep our hearts soft when we contemplate His steadfastness on our behalf. Let us take courage as we see Him upon a cross, in spousal fidelity to His bride refusing to be removed. Let us rejoice in knowing that it was “for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising its shame.”