Rethink How You Look at Trials

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase refiner’s fire. For those who haven’t, it is simply means the fire used to heat metal, allowing the craftsman (or now, machine) to separate the pure from the slag. The phrase is used biblically as well as in general speech.

In the Bible, it refers to big things. It refers to grand tests. It refers to life-altering consequences. At first blush, I’m not talking about anything nearly so monumental… but then again, the results could be.

I think that trials and tests are something we should relish. Through these trials, we become stronger. We become ever so slightly more refined… more pure. Again, I’m not saying we become holier. I am saying that we become better. There are probably more quotes that attest to this than anything else:

“Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger wind, the stronger trees” – Douglass Malloch

“That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

The quotes go on and on…

Like everyone else, I do not look forward to hard times. I don’t go looking for trouble just so I can refine myself. But, I do relish them when I am through to the other side.

That refiners fire represents challenge. It represents situations that are uncomfortable.

Don’t run from these challenges. Don’t protect your children from these challenges. Keep them safe – but give them opportunities to strengthen themselves, rise to those challenges, and experience the growth and strength that comes on the other side.