Coming Forth As Gold

Job 23:1-9 “Then Job answered and said,  Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.  Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!  I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.  I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.  Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.  There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.  Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:  On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

As Christians, we have all had times in our lives when it seemed like the whole world was against us. We have had times when, like Job, we lose sight of God because we focus on our own suffering. Job had a family and was a fairly rich man in his time: he wanted for nothing.  God took all that Job had away from him in order to test his spiritual strength. Though Job lost everything save for a few “friends” who did little but point the finger of blame at a suffering man, Job still wanted to be faithful throughout the duration of the test. He wanted to “keep the faith”, to continue to believe God even in suffering, so that he would pass out of these trials and “come forth as gold”.

A minister of the Gospel Dr C.S. Lewis once asked the question, “How can a loving God allow pain and suffering among His creation?”. Many who become Christians have the idea that the road of life will get a little easier after salvation. And it does, to a large degree. As believers we know our salvation is secure. We know that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father speaking up for us, for all believers, keeping us in the saving plan of God:

Hebrews 7:24-25  “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

Our lives are easier for we know where we're going after death. No Christian needs to fear the great separator, Death. Our lives are easier because we know that He will provide for us.

Though we know where we'll be spending eternity, still we ask, “Lord, why must I go through these trials? Why does it always seem like you're not there when I need you? How can I overcome the trial and “come forth as gold”?” Let's look at each of these questions in turn and see what the Biblical answer is.

Look at those four little words, so often overlooked when we read this passage: “we are his workmanship”. Christians, when we went to the altar and accepted Christ as Savior this was not the end of our salvation, but the beginning. The Christian is a work in progress, a work that is not completely finished until we reach glory in Heaven. One of the hobbies that has fascinated me is woodcarving. The woodcarver takes a raw block of wood then, with imagination, starts whittling away at that block until a sculpture is formed. In order to get the block to a finished state the carver has to cut, and sand, and tear away portions of the wood until the shape hidden inside is revealed. My friend, the beauty that is the sculpture is not revealed unless the unneeded wood is removed.

So it is with the Christian in trials. God uses the trial just as the woodcarver uses the chisel, chipping and pulling away the parts of our life that are unpleasant to Him while revealing the beauty underneath. Without the trials we would all stay childish in the faith, totally inadequate to go out for our Lord and fulfill His Great Commission. If we persevere through the trial, though, we will come out from the other side stronger and more able to minister as He has called us.
 

God is always there while we are under trials, though often we're not. What I mean by this is that often we focus on the trial and it's effects in our lives rather than focusing on our Redeemer. We allow the moment of the trial to overwhelm us, we focus on it and exclude our Savior at the moment when we should be focusing only on Him.

How you start your day often determines how your day will end. We get up and immediately get busy. If a trial comes along we suffer through it, but too often we look at the trial rather than stop and say: “Lord, deliver me!”. This little poem says it all:
.

First, we must enter into the trial praising Our Lord:

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

When we stop cursing and fighting the trial at hand and Praise The Lord suddenly God seems closer because He is closer. The very act of praising God makes us focus on Him rather than on the trouble around us. Once we focus on Him He is free to act in our behalf. In 2 Chronicles 20:15-25  we see the story of King Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel. The nation had been surrounded by a great multitude of enemies, a multitude that was certain to wipe the nation off of the face of the earth. God told Jehoshaphat:

2 Chronicles 20:17-18 “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.  And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.”

They trusted the Lord for deliverance, focused on Him, worshipped Him in the midst of the trial. Rather than focus on the enemy they focused on the Savior. The next day, Jehoshaphat told the Army of Israel:

2 Chronicles 20:21-22 “And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.  And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. “

To put down their weapons and focus on praising the Lord while He took care of things. They did this, their enemies were defeated, and the Bible says it took them three days to carry away all of the spoils of war. There is power in Praising God.

Second, we must believe that God is stronger than the trial, and that He is faithful in what He has promised.

Psalms 37:23-25  “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.  I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

1 Corinthians 10:13  ”There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. “

Time after time the Scripture tells us that God is there with us during trials. “He will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able”: God knows your strength better than you do. He should, because He made you and me. He knows what part of the trial is necessary for your growth, and knows when to stop the trial dead in its tracks. He uses the trial like a skillful surgeon, cutting out the unhealthy and immature portions of our lives while leaving new growth. Trust that the Lord is good, the Lord is gracious, and the Lord will provide. He sent His Son to die for you, and gave you the priceless Gift of Salvation. You are precious to Him because of this, and will not be forsaken.

Third, do not be alone while you are under trials. Share your burdens with your brothers and sisters in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:24-26 “For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:  That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

God did not establish the Church to be a clubhouse, nor to just be a place where we go on Sunday. The Church is a “Body”, a group of believers working together to promote the cause of Christ on the earth. Just as you care for your own human body we should each care for one another in the Church. When a member is under trial he should share that burden with his fellow Christians, so that together we raise our voices in praise and supplication to God. There's an old saying, “No man is an Island”, and this is particularly true for the Christian. Share your burdens one with another. Lift one another up in the Lord. Together we can overcome the trials of life and, in overcoming, be stronger as
believers.

If you aren't a believer tonight then little of what I said meant anything to you. If you aren't a believer and are in trials you're probably mad at God. I know, when I was an unbeliever anytime I went through some trial in my life, I cursed God. I thought I could live my life on my own and then, when I encountered insurmountable odds, I cursed God for not making it better. I want to read you one more little poem called:
.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
 

Return to the Main Menu/ Bible Studies!