The Trial of our Faith • Deshen Daily

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:7, KJV)

The Lord compares our faith to gold in the scripture above. He says just as Gold is tried or tested, our faith will also be tried and tested. Gold is tested by fire. It is worth examining what this means to fully understand what the Lord is communicating to us about the purification of our faith.

Gold is a precious metal, and it can be contaminated with other objects or metals that are not of any use to the miner. The degree of contamination of gold determines its degree of purity. The more impurities it contains, the less pure the gold is. This explains to us the need to purify gold, which seeks to remove these impurities. Fire was the mainstay of purification of gold. The craftsmen in the in Bible days will use fire to purify gold and separate it from the impurities that it contains.

The Apostle Peter says above that “the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth , though it be tried with fire”. Our faith is more precious than gold. Our faith, just as gold, is purified. Fire in this metaphor represents adversity or challenges. It separates real faith from what looks like faith. It is only in the face of adversity that the genuineness of faith can be perceived. Have you ever thought you were a man or woman of faith until trouble comes and you realize what you thought was faith was truly not faith but something else—possibly emotional acceptance of truth, mental assertion or even excitement.

The testing of faith does reveal not only the impure but also genuine. That means God does not only test our faith to show us what is not faith which we thought was faith but also to show us that we also have faith which we might not be properly acknowledging. For example, God can allow a challenge to come your way to show you that you are stronger than you thought and that you had enough faith to subdue that circumstance which you did not know about!

The Lord will test your faith, to reveal the impure and the genuine. Some of you might be so full of real faith but you do not yet know what you have. God will allow the devil to clash with you to make you see for yourself the genuineness of your faith! How wonderful is that! Do you know that God might have allowed poverty or that disease to clash with you because He wants to teach them a lesson, that you are not a sissy to mess around with? Be encouraged! Our faith works, you only have to make sure you are not in an emotional hype but having the real thing.

MEDITATE

What is the difference between the trial of our faith and temptation?

APPLY THE WORD

God says every challenge that comes your way is scrutinized from heaven and only what you can handle is allowed to hit you( 1 Cor. 10:13). In other words, the circumstances you are facing are there to test your faith, to remove the impure and prove the genuine. Do not lose heart in the midst of that difficulty. Rather, let the lion in you roar and bring to subjection whatever is challenge your life in Christ.