Meditations in the Fire’s Forging

Real faith upends the pre-conceptions of who Jesus is from the tiny box of human expectation and understanding. The apostle Peter and the other eleven walked the crucible of disappointment as Jesus revealed Himself to the world, not as the reigning Messiah, but as the suffering Servant. Those three black days of Jesus’ silent occupation in the Tomb left the disciples bereft of hope. They had forgotten what He had said so many times before: He would rise again. (Matthew 20:18-19; Mark 8:31; Mark 10:32-34; Luke 18:31-33; Luke 24:7) Who the disciples thought Jesus was clashed disappointingly with reality in those three difficult days.

And so it does with every true believer at some point in their journey of discipleship. Disappointed expectations when God does not do the impossible in a moment of desperation lead to a broken heart and a crisis of faith. The silent waiting period between the crucifixion and the resurrection of that crisis produces a fork in the road. Trust this God who does not behave as expected or forge on without Him? For those who have tasted Life in Him like Peter, the only response can be, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” John 6:68

Until Jesus returns to reestablish a world without evil, death, pain, and suffering, life’s enemy will relentlessly pursue his agenda to devour, kill, and destroy the faith of believers. His tactics have not changed since the Garden of Eden when he sowed doubt by saying, “hath God said?” Then he followed up by calling God a liar. “Ye shall not surely die.” Yet every trial faced in this life is an opportunity to know a God outside of the little box He used to fit within the believer’s mind. His power could not be contained by death in a tomb of solid rock, nor will it be defined by a humanly crafted box of expectation.

The lens of the Gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, brings the God who defies human expectation into clearer focus for the one clinging to hope between the crucifixion and resurrection of desperate trial. What makes no sense at this moment to human eyes makes perfect sense to Him. He knows that resurrection power will shatter the enemy’s throttlehold and make death’s sting null and void. He knows this moment is temporary, but the reward of faith is eternal. Peter’s comfort shortly before his own martyrdom showcases his own journey of faith.

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 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: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

Not only is the trial of faith rewarded with an eternal investment, but it opens the eyes of the believer to see the glory of Jesus Christ now. It lessens the hold of the temporal while embracing the resurrection power that is to come. It sees God as much more than One who can be controlled by human expectation. No, a God that can be controlled by human expectation is no god at all, only an idol that grants every wish and desire of a desperately wicked human heart. How much better to know and love the One who laid aside the glories of heaven to break every human misconception of who God is? This is the precious treasure of desperate trials.

Praying that these meditations might be an encouragement and help to someone else experiencing the silence between the crucifixion and the resurrection of trial. Have a blessed weekend, my friends.

Erica B.