“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4)
In most of our farming communities once grains such as millet, sorghum or even maize are harvested, they are ground into a fine flour to be of greater use. The process might be manual involving back breaking stone grinding or, the grain might be sucked into a motor driven machine, that thrashes it into fine flour. It is a fiery process but in the end the outcome is worth the price.
This principle equally applies to how God uses us to fullfilll his purposes in our lives. All by ourselves we are all filled with stuff that makes it hard to be of much use. Our thought patterns are far from God. We are dependent more on ourselves and less on God. So, to draw us close to Him, God takes us through the fire of refining us and clearing all impurities clogging our system, all that results into an enviable fine flour at the end!
Frankly, no one wakes up to long for trials in his life. Trials can shake us and make us wonder if God has abandoned us. King David cried, “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” ( Psalm 13:1-2). Yet dificult as these episodes where in his life they drew David closer to God. As he says, “Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me” ( Psalm 142: 7).
Anytime we find ourselves through turbulence from nowhere, lets not imagine God has abaned us. Trials are not a comfortable experience by any means. Yet through such God draws us closer to him for effectiveness.
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, through life trials you draw us closer to you, remove all impurites in our lives by refining us to depend more on you, and so I pray to persevere through all for victory lies at the end, this I pray in Jesus’s name!
