God’s Refining Fire

Let me ask you something here. We all question God at times and He loves us enough to allow it, but who are we to question God? After God pulled Job out of the fire he was polished and blessed much more than before he went into the tremendous trials that he suffered. The life of Job is proof that man usually has no idea what God is doing behind the scenes in the life of each believer.

Job was such a man; he knew that God was on His Throne and in total control, though he had no way of knowing why so many terrible tragedies were occurring in his life. Job never lost his faith in God, even under the most distressing circumstances that tested him to his core. It’s hard to imagine losing everything in one day—property, possessions, and even children. Most would sink into depression and even become suicidal after such a nightmare; however, Job never wavered in his understanding that God was still sovereign. Job knew God well enough to know that He did not work that way; in fact, he had such an intimate, personal relationship with Him that he was able to make the statement, Job 13:15: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.”

So the grand question. Why does God allow people to suffer and go through bad things? I would ask; why would or should He save us from them? Romans 5:8: declares, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Despite the evil, wicked, sinful nature of the people of this world, God still loves us. He loved us enough to die on the cross to take the penalty for our sins. All human beings need the saving grace of Christ. We have to go through times of suffering and trial to see that we need God over ourselves.

Why? Because no matter how highly you think of yourself; Ecclesiastes 7:20: “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” Only Jesus Christ was sinless and thus a perfect sacrifice on our behalf. If we believe and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we will be forgiven. Nothing else you do can get you to heaven, nothing. What we deserve is hell. What we are given is eternal life in heaven if we come to Christ in faith alone. God is eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.

Why should human beings (who are not eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent) expect to be able to fully understand God’s ways? Remember Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Listen, when you search for diamonds you have to dig through the dirt and the mud and the dust to find the treasure. The Holy Spirit has to remove the mud and the muck and dust from us so that the treasure within can be seen. Make sense?

I think it is wiser that instead of questioning God, we are to focus on the example of our Savior Jesus and ask that God’s will be done and not ours in our own lives. If God is calling and sanctioning you to do something for Him, you can and should expect to be tested. You can expect testing proportionate with the seriousness of your call. The devil may not show up in person or test you on the same supernatural level that he tested Jesus, but your hardships may seem unbearable apart from the grace of God. That is because they are! Comfort, strength and resilience only come from God. Trials are for our benefit even though we at times despise them.