James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
We’ve been serving in full-time ministry for over 25 years now, and throughout that journey, we’ve certainly experienced our share of trials and tribulations. Sometimes in life, we ask, “Lord, will this ever end?” And if you haven’t noticed, the challenges often don’t stop. But here’s the encouraging part: with every faith-testing moment, our spiritual endurance grows, our character is refined, and our trust in God deepens.
In Scripture, our faith is compared to something incredibly valuable—gold. But straight from the earth, raw gold doesn’t look very impressive. It’s covered in dirt and full of impurities. To become something beautiful, it has to go through the fire. A refiner slowly heats the gold—not to the point of destruction, but just enough to allow the impurities to rise to the surface. He carefully removes the dross, and what remains is pure, radiant, and ready to be shaped into something of great worth.
Here’s the powerful part: the refiner knows his work is complete when he can look into the pot and see a clear reflection of himself.
In the same way, the trials we face are God’s refining fire. They expose the things in us that need to be brought to the surface—not to shame us, but so the Lord can remove them and make us more like Him. He watches us closely, never allowing us to be overwhelmed, always in control. And when He looks upon our lives and sees His reflection—His character, His love, His righteousness—He knows the refining process is working.
So, let’s not despise the trials we’re going through. Let’s embrace them, knowing God uses them to prepare us for greater things. Instead of asking, “Why is this happening?” let’s ask, “Lord, what do You want to teach me through this?” And as we yield to Him in the fire, we will see His hand, His purpose, and—yes—His blessing.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The burglar froze in place, allowing the woman to call the police and report the burglary calmly. When the police arrived and detained the man, the officer curiously asked him, “Why did you stop when she cited scripture?” The burglar, still shaken, replied, “Scripture? I thought she said she had an ax and two .38s!”
We’ve been serving in full-time ministry for over 25 years now, and throughout that journey, we’ve certainly experienced our share of trials and tribulations. Sometimes in life, we ask, “Lord, will this ever end?” And if you haven’t noticed, the challenges often don’t stop. But here’s the encouraging part: with every faith-testing moment, our spiritual endurance grows, our character is refined, and our trust in God deepens.
Epraphras is not a name you hear much of. He was a member of the church in Colosse, and obviously a dear saint in the Lord. We know that he suffered imprisonment with Paul at one time. But the thing that really impresses me about this saint is what Paul wrote about him– he always wrestled in prayer!
We often develop strategies, game-plans, life-plans – and then, at some obstacle or critical point, we say – “Just stick to the plan!” It’s usually good advice.
Life is always sending unexpected surprises, but praise God, nothing takes Him by surprise. He’s the master planner. Our family might turn against us, our friends let us down, illness, afflictions, problems and “situations” on every side…God still has a plan, for you, and for me.
The legendary preacher, Charles Spurgeon once said, “Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right.”
Every day roughly 150,000 around the world die. Death has a way of raising our spiritual temperature and quickening us to re-evaluate life…especially to ask, “Am I doing all that I can do?”
The first king of Israel, King Saul,was told by God to utterly slay Amalek and his descendants. In blatant disobedience Saul allowed Agag, the king of the Amalekites and the best of the cattle to remain alive. The following day, Saul tried to remedy his disobedience by attempting to sacrifice the best of the cattle to the Lord.