HELEN SANDERS
11-7-2025
TRIED IN THE FIRE

There isn’t one of us that hasn’t asked God when or why. Human nature wants to know things and wants to know them NOW! Trials come and tests come and we don’t understand why God allows them.

I don’t know anyone that enjoys trials or tests. As students, many of us would freeze up in the classroom when we knew test day was coming.

The book of James says we are to count it all joy when we are tested. All joy? No way! Yet, how can we know if we have learned something without a test. Many of us have learned the hard way and have had to take the test repeatedly.

Just when we think we have learned a lesson, bang - another test comes. Testing is not pleasant, but like gold, we must go through the testing fire to see if we are strong enough and pure enough to qualify for excellence. Most of us would like to be graded on a sliding scale, but that doesn’t work with God. He wants us to be the best of the best! Testing shows what we are made of. Steel has to be put into the fire to get rid of the impurities, or it will break under the load, and even a small horseshoe has to be put in the fire, so it can carry the load that it will be used for.

Don’t look at tests and trials as a bad thing. God allows them to come so that we will rely on His Strength. Christ in us is the hope of glory. The more of Jesus in us, the less apt we are to bend under the testing! We get our strength to endure tests only from God. We should be thankful that He doesn’t want us to be graded as a D– or F. He wants us to be an A+ all the way.

Thank Him for being there through the trials. He said He would never leave you or forsake you! When you come out of the testing fires, you will be stronger than ever.