PETER USED A powerful metaphor from the world of metallurgy…

When the metallurgist mines the metal, it is in an ore state with a mixture of dross.  That means there are inherent corruptions in the metal that rob it of its strength and beauty.  In order to bring the metal to its purest state, the metallurgist applies white hot heat until the ore is liquefied and boiling.  In this process, the corruptions are boiled out, and it becomes fundamentally stronger and more beautiful than ever before.

What are trials?  They are God’s boiling pot.  When we initially come to Christ we are dross-corrupted.  We are carrying around “corruptions” inside of us that rob us of our strength and beauty.  So God, in the grandeur and faithfulness of His redemptive love, boils us.  The difficulties that come our way are not a sign of His unfaithfulness and inattention.  No, they are an indication of His love.  He knows that we are not yet what we were meant to be.  He has dug us out of the mine, but we need to be refined.

Now why is this so hard for us to deal with?  I am convinced it is because we tend to live with a destination mentality.  We want like to be easy, satisfying, and good as it can be, immediately here and now.  But, this isn’t a time of destination.  Peter says our destination is guaranteed, but we will not have it now.  Now is a time of preparation.  It is a time of radical, personal growth and chance, so God applies white hot heat to prepare us for the destination to come.  Paul David Tripp, “Painful Faith: God’s Story and Suffering,” Lost in the Middle, 197-198

“In this you greatly rejoice,  though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  1 Peter 1:6-7; cf., Hebrews 12:5-11

Mike Benson