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In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 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.
1 Peter 1:6-7 (ESV)Henri Nouwen: -- *The Inner Voice of Love:*
"You keep looking for something that is already given. Stop searching for affirmation from people who cannot give it. You have already received it. You are beloved. The trials that shake you are not evidence of absence but the furnace that burns away every false identity until only the beloved remains. What you experience as loss is really preparation."
Dorothy Sayers: -- *The Mind of the Maker:*
"We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him 'meek and mild,' and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. But the true Christ walks into the fire with you, not to make it comfortable but to make it count. The testing is not cruelty; it is the only way a thing made of base metal becomes a thing of weight."
Clement of Alexandria: -- *Stromata*, Book IV:
"The divine discipline is a path of training, not punishment. For as gold is proved by fire, so also the soul of the righteous man is proved by manifold temptations, being refined for the reception of the divine image. Let no one therefore call afflictions evil, for through them the righteous are made perfect, as through the furnace gold is made pure."
Oswald Chambers: -- *My Utmost for His Highest* (July 27):
"If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across. The way to understand another person is to get the same kind of fire. God will put you through fires that would burn the life out of a less determined man."
What would you stop protecting yourself from if you truly believed the fire was refining you, not destroying you?
Seneca: -- *On Providence*, 4.6-4.7:
"Fire tests gold, misfortune brave men. Why do you wonder that good men are shaken to make them strong? No tree stands firm and solid unless it is buffeted by constant wind; the very tension strengthens it and roots it firmly in the soil. Misfortune is virtue's opportunity. Those who have never known adversity are not happy but soft. God hardens, reviews, and disciplines those he approves and loves."
St. Clair, Michigan: -- Sunny, 49°F, Humidity 63%, Wind SE 6mph