Being refined by fire

Refined by Fire (public domain pic)
There are days, weeks, months and years in our lives when we feel like life is just too much. There are situations that stretch us beyond what we feel like we can handle. We want to quit, or hide, or run away… anything but walking the path in front of us. Why can’t the journey be easier? Why do we have to walk through the fire? Where is God in all of this? God could step in. He could fix everything. But sometimes He doesn’t, and we don’t know why. However, while we are on our journey, it helps to remember the destination. Easy street doesn’t lead to Heaven. To become the best versions of ourselves, we need to be refined by fire. As miserable as those hard times can be, they are also the moments that really define us.

The good news is that God never meant for us to walk alone. He gives us friends, family, and most importantly Himself to help us. When we feel most overwhelmed, I think it is supposed to be our reminder that we can’t do it all on our own, and that we are not supposed to. God wants us to learn how to rely on Him and to let Him love us and provide for us, but He will not force Himself upon us. So during those trying times in our lives, we can try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, and let it slowly break us down, or we can let go and let God be our strength.

The last thing you want to do when facing a scary situation is to let go– you want to control it– to fix it– but it can’t be controlled, and it can’t be fixed. Trying to fix it only makes it worse. As you lay there in the mess, you look up and see God reaching out His hand. But are you really ready to let God carry the burden and let God take the lead?

Knowing that God wants what is best for us, but that He’s not a big fan of the easy way, can make us want to avoid Him. Maybe we’ll got to church and pray now and again, but it can be tempting to try to keep Him at arm’s distance because if he gets to close He might ask us to do something we don’t want to do. But God is always there whether we want Him there or not, and challenges are always there whether we want them there or not. And if we push God away, we might miss the beauty in the pain, and the opportunity in the suffering.

Whereas we all experience suffering at different times and in different ways, we all experience it. You are not alone. And if you need someone to talk to, I’m here.

Linking up with Weekly Writing in October. Thank you to Bobbi for hosting this because otherwise there is no way I would have made the time to write tonight.

2 thoughts on “Being refined by fire

  1. What a beautiful and heartfelt post. I have definitely had those moments when I was tempted to avoid God because I was afraid of what He would reveal to me but you are right. God does know what’s best and sometimes we have to go through the pain in order to grow and learn. I just don’t see it until I have hindsight of the situation. Thanks for the reminder and for linking up. 🙂

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