“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10)
Being in a furnace of affliction should not be thought a strange thing to God’s saint. All those who live godly in Christ Jesus should not only expect persecution, but various trials that could be sidestepped if they chose to save their lives. Submission to God is not a pathway out of trouble. Faithfulness to God often places us right in the path of affliction.
But in the fire, every faithful saint has this promise: “…When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isa. 43:2). As the song says:
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.”
We read of the three Hebrew children that the fire had “no power” to hurt them, “nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them” (Dan. 3:27). Not only does the fire have no power to hurt us; but God promises to make amazing use of the trial. The hotter the fire, the greater the refining work of God in our heart.
The story of Job attests to our need to let patience have her perfect work so we can come out of tribulation as gold. “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10) We can think we’re somewhere with God, when God knows how much more of Him we really need. Jesus stood ready to enrich those who thought of themselves more highly than they should have. “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich …” (Rev. 3:18).
God has no shortcuts to maturity. The path to perfection is the pathway of suffering. Jesus learned obedience, and was made perfect, through the things He suffered. “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26) Christ has called many sons to glory, but even as He was glorified after He suffered, so are we.
Yes, Jesus suffered FOR us; but we are to suffer WITH Him. He had a cup of suffering to drink; and so do we. “And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with …” (Matt. 20:23) Jesus underwent a baptism of fire. As we walk in obedience, let us learn to rejoice in our own baptism of fire.