“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.” (1 Peter 4:12 NKJV)
Why do we Christians think that we are to be exempted from trials, suffering, and the pain of living in a fallen world? If those things are common to all who live in a fallen world, how much more so should we, as Christians, expect to have fiery trials come upon us for the purpose of refinement?
Fire can be destructive and brutal. However, fire can bring forth new life out of the ashes. There are seeds that require fire in order for them to be able to germinate and grow into the plant that God intended for them to become. Fire can also be creative. In the hands of the blacksmith, the right amount of fire, for the correct time, can turn twisted old junk metal into a beautiful work of art.
The Bible speaks of God as the Refiner. I think that we have this imagery in Scripture, and others like it, to preserve the message intended to be received across different cultures and through different periods of time. To communicate truth in a way that many people can understand it over thousands of years the Word of God uses imagery that we can easily understand.
It may require some to do a little research to understand how the refiner goes about purifyin ...
