Adversity?

We all go through times of trial in our lives. Emotional or physical pain, decaying relationships, financial woes, the list goes on. Through reading the Bible, we can discover possible "reasons for the seasons" we are going through.

We come across words like "testing" and "refining" as we read. Here's an example.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." - James 1:2-3

These "testing" and "refining" words imply a tester, a refiner. That would be God. And WHY does He test us? Why does He want to refine us? He wants us to be holy.

"Be holy, for I am holy." - Leviticus 11:44,45

I just got done watching a video about pruning fruit trees. Trees like to do two things - grow wood and grow fruit. If left alone, trees will grow more wood than fruit. To change that, fruit growers prune some of the wood - unproductive branches.

You and I are like fruit trees. We also like to produce unproductive things. We also allow disease to grow in our branches - sin. God, however, wants us to be healthy and produce MUCH fruit. So He prunes.

Do you have adversity in your life right now? Could it be that God is pruning you, to shape you into who HE wants you to be?

Sometimes we ignore these testings and say things like "Well, that day sucked." Instead of wondering, "Lord, what are you trying to teach me?" or "Reveal to me what ir is you want from me."

We all go through times of trial. But what do we look like on the other side of it? Have we grown? Have we become stronger in our weakness?

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Refiner's Fire - The Worship Project