Essential Fire
Dear friends, your faith is going to be tested as if it were going through fire.
Do not be surprised at this
(1 Peter 4:12 NLV)
These trials will show that your faith is genuine.
It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold though your faith is far more precious than mere gold
(1 Peter 1:7 NLT)
We see the horrific images on our televisions, wildfires in California, wildfires in Australia, forests blazing, flames leaping high into the sky, dark heavy smoke-laden clouds hanging over the landscape, so dense and extensive they can be seen from space. It looks like hell has been let loose on earth. Fire is a terrifying force of nature, leaving utter destruction in its wake.
But fire also brings new life. Enter the Lodgepole Pine. Without fire the Lodgepole Pine isn’t able to propagate. Their cones are tightly sealed and cannot open unless they are exposed to extremely high temperatures. So, the Lodgepole pine eagerly awaits the burning, knowing that new life will result. And once the fire has blazed through, a whole new forest of pines spring up, ready to drop the next round of tightly sealed cones, awaiting the next fire.
Like the Lodgepole Pine, we too need fire for growth. However in our case, it is the experiential fire that leads to growth and maturation. A time of testing and trial will eventually come into every Christian’s life when God puts you into the crucible to burn away the dross.
But he knows the way that I take; When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold (Job 23:10 NIV).
Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10 NKJV).
Being in the crucible’s fire can be a truly terrifying experience and you may wonder if you can possibly survive. But there is no need to panic because, just as God was in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, He will be with you and bring you safely through.
“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God” (Daniel 3:24-25 NKJV).
Not a hair on your head will be scorched, you will emerge seasoned and matured and ready to enter into a new, enriched phase of your Christian walk. You and the Lodgepole Pine will experience new life and growth.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you (Isaiah 43:2 NKJV).
