The Gift of Suffering

It is fascinating to me how we can look at things in nature and apply them as an analogy to our lives. Scripture does this quite often. Jesus, in the parables, used everyday things such as seed, trees, vines and pearls to drive home lessons about the glory of His kingdom. Jesus was extremely practical in His teaching for those who had ears to hear. The same is true today for us if we will choose to do a little investigation into customs and processes that are mentioned in scripture. Take for instance the process of refining precious metals. Often in scripture we see a reference to the purifying work of trials that serve to rid our lives of sin and draw us close to our Savior. Gold is a great gift but suffering? How can that be compared to the beauty and worth of gold? Suffering is indeed part of the human condition. Because of the pervasiveness of sin we will all suffer. For those who have eyes to see, it doesn't take venturing far from your front door to encounter the ailment of the human condition. Scripture even talks about the groaning within creation itself because of the weight of sin. The trees suffer, the atmosphere suffers, the oceans suffer under the weight of sin. For many of you, suffering is a present reality. There are hurts that are emotional, physical and mental. The pain can often be more than we think we are able to bear. We deal with suffering in many ways. Some of us medicate ourselves as a means of escape. Others attempt to live in denial by ignoring the problem. If you are like me, you immediately begin to pray that the suffering would pass. You cry out for an answer, for reprieve from painful circumstances. One thing is certain, we don't pray for more suffering and we rarely, if ever, rejoice in the gift. The gift of suffering. A Gift. Like Gold. Those two words are oxymorons. Anyone would automatically see that a gift and suffering do not belong in the same sentence....or do they? "Count it all joy my sisters when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (endurance, perseverance). And let patience have its perfect work so that you may be complete lacking nothing." (James 1: 2-4) "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1: 6-7) "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." (Hebrews 12:11) Here are three different books of the Bible, all written by different authors, that address suffering. But the instruction is the same. What can we learn about suffering as a refining fire from these brief passages of scripture? First, we learn that joy and trials should go hand in hand. Why? Because we are being molded into the image of Christ. Literally, the image of God! The image of His cherished Son. The One that He loves above all. Can you grasp that concept? We aren't being made into better versions of ourselves or even better versions of someone else. We are being completely TRANSFORMED into something totally different and infinitely beautiful. Let's look at the analogy that Peter gives about being tested by fire. If you have ever seen precious metals or jewels in their natural state they don't look anything like what you see in a jewelry store. When men go out to mine gold they aren't discovering pirate's treasure. Mining is hard, dangerous work. The hard, dull rocks that are unearthed are far from the shining finished product that make up our jewelry and coins. On the contrary, one would be hard pressed to sell gold in its natural state to the average consumer. Unless, he was selling to someone with a trained eye who knows the end result. Jesus sees with the trained eye. Scripture tell us that He knows the beginning from the end. In other words, He can tell the story backwards! He is always keeping the end in mind as He allows trials in our lives. When Christ purchased us through His death on the cross we were ugly, hard, dull rocks. There was nothing in us deserving or worthy of that purchase. Jesus purchased us with a purpose. That purpose being the glory of His great name. God intends to mold us into the image of Christ for praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. However, being molded into His image is difficult, hot, uncomfortable work. Take the opportunity sometime to go online and watch a tutorial on the refining process. This process, known as smelting, requires an intense amount of heat, pressure and poisonous chemicals. This is the only means by which gold can be purified. The purpose of smelting is to bring metals in a solid state to a liquid state. Once liquified, the impurities, also known as dross, rise to the top and can be skimmed off. The higher the heat, the purer the metal. What results is literally, pure gold. The first step in the gold smelting process occurs when ore containing gold is mined from the earth. At this point, the crude binding matter and the gold metal need to be separated. This is accomplished by pulverizing or crushing the gold ore, and then placing it in a furnace. The furnace must reach temperatures in excess of 1064 degrees Celsius, in order to elevate the gold above its melting point. Second, we learn that trials produce righteousness and reveal genuineness of faith. There is nothing that proves so competent in revealing the true nature of our hearts toward God than hardship. It is easy during times of peace and favorable circumstances to glorify and worship the Lord. It is altogether different in seasons of trial. The crucible of suffering reveals where our security, loyalty and trust lies. When things are taken from us, prayers go unanswered and trouble abounds we are inept at hiding our impurities. It is then and only then that they can be brought to the surface and skimmed off leaving behind genuine faith. While many impurities are burned off in the furnace, other metals remain. Gold ore extracted from mines in the earth contains a significant amount of impurities, including traces of other metals. In order to separate the gold from other metals, chemicals such as cyanide solution or mercury are introduced to the gold. This process causes the gold to coagulate, and form nuggets and clumps of gold. Lastly, suffering is the means by which we are made like Christ. Romans 8:17 states, "if indeed we suffer with Him so we may also be glorified with Him." Once gold has been refined it can then be useful for many things. However, it is once again placed under intense heat to mold it into the final product. Whether it serves as jewelry or currency its final state is more valuable than the way in which it was found. After the gold smelting process is complete, the gold is melted once more, and poured into molds to form ingots. Later, the gold ingots may be used for various purposes fulfilled best by this precious metal. Some of this gold is used for jewelry or electronics contacts and may later be recycled for other uses. In the event that gold from jewelry or electronics is to be recycled, the scrap gold must go through another smelting process in order to be considered pure once more. When we are conformed to the image of Christ we are put through our own smelting process at the hands of the ultimate Creator, Designer and Potter. James says that as perseverance has its perfect work we will be complete, lacking nothing. As the believer, once we arrive at the place where we are complete and lack nothing then we will be like Christ. Our transformation will be complete and we will be glorified with Him! The greatest gift we can receive is the gift that molds us into the image of our Father. The greatest compliment we can receive is "You look just like your Dad!" The temporary fiery trials that we endured now are securing an eternal weight of glory that far surpasses anything we can think or imagine. Gold is highly prized not just for its beauty but also because it does not rust or tarnish over time. Yet scripture says that gold is perishable...but our faith is not! Our faith, which is being perfected, is eternal. Although no one enjoys suffering at the time (Heb. 12:11) when we begin to see the greater purpose we can learn to suffer well, with hope that what we are going through matters. And it does matter, sweet one, yes it does!