Tried and tested: God's tempering process
Pastor Hans Voortman
Being a Christian doesn't make you immune to hard times. We'd like to think it'd be different, particularly when so many of us come to the Lord on the promise of 'love, joy and peace'. In that moment of desperation, when we'd reached the end of ourselves, we came to God - or should I say He came to us! In our initial interaction with Jesus, everything was so overwhelming - His love surrounded us and we felt His energy pulsating through our beings for the first time. We were 'born again' and the feeling was great! And so we've come to expect a god of 'good feelings', one who would be there to lift us out of the rough times, one who would lighten our load and who had come to set us free. After all, he whom the Son sets free is 'free indeed' (Jn 8:36)!
OUR THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING
So when suddenly the Heavens are as brass and God seems a million miles away, many of us get completely disoriented, perplexed and anxious as to what on earth is going on. It doesn't match up with our theology of a 'bless me' god. So we grapple with hard times, concluding God has left us - period. Perhaps we've offended Him in some way. So in desperation, we plunge head long into all sorts of soul purging and introspective repentance for 'hidden sins'. Alternatively we might conclude we've not enough faith and that our disbelieving disposition has caused us to get out of 'synch.' with God. Yet rarely do we conclude that God may be in these rough times - that, if He hasn't instigated these events, He certainly is allowing them, perhaps even for our good (Phil 2:13)!
As charismatic and pentecostal Christians we don't have much of a theology of suffering. Simplistically, the devil is always perceived as its perpetrator. Now of course his nature is to kill, steal and destroy and Christ's heart is the very antithesis of this (Jn 10:10). Yet the apostle Peter says, '. do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ .' (1 Pet. 4:12-13). James further states, 'Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance' (Jas. 1:2-3). So how do you handle the tough times? Can you see God's hand in them? Do you respond to them with faith? Or do you doubt God's benevolence even to the point of rejecting Him?
Such is the nature of hard times - they can shake you to your very foundations. Perhaps it's the sickness of a loved one, or financial pressures, job dissatisfaction or a relationship crisis. Whatever, in desperation we cry out to God for we've been led to believe He would always be there for us, and now He doesn't seem to want to come through. We're left wallowing in our unanswered prayers. How do we make sense of what's going on? How should we respond?
GOD'S TEMPERING PROCESS
A key statement in the verse quoted earlier from James 1:3 is, '. you know that the testing of your faith .'. The word 'testing' is similar to the concept of the tempering of glass or steel. Tempered glass is up to five times stronger than normal glass. It can withstand strong blows without shattering. Similarly tempered or 'tested' steel can carry heavier burdens and be put under greater stress than normal. The process of tempering exposes the material to successive extremes of heat and cold. The rapidity of change is what gives it its tempered strength. Similarly, God is our temperer. By the 'testing of our faith' He seemingly takes us on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows in our Christian faith. We can, in just a short space of time, go from everything being 'in the groove' to 'having the wheels falling off'; from feeling God is with us, to feeling abandoned; from His blessings to everything going haywire. Yet He's meant it that way! It's His way of toughening us up and causing us to approach Him on a steady, emotional plain.
So many Christians have an on/off approach to God. They run hot and cold in their relationship with Him. Their emotions filter their whole experience of the Lord. Moods determine their relationship to God. Now, God is interested in consistency. His heart is for spiritually minded people who aren't tossed to and fro by 'every wind of teaching' (Eph 4:14) and who are unmoved by trends, but are seen as strong, predictable and dependable.
God is wanting to fashion soldiers who can stand the heat of battle and who aren't 'powder puffs', distracted and overwhelmed by every roar of the enemy (1 Pet. 5:8). And somehow, it is only the tough times that temper this type of inner resilience. As Job said, 'Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him' (Job 13:15). In His relationship with God, Job had developed an inner strength that could not be influenced, even by the emotions related to impending death. James says it like this: 'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life' (1:12). So God sets out to temper us, to test our metal, to make us the sort of people who remain unflinching in our resolve for God.
Today, the western church is full of 'fair weather' Christians, fed on a consumer gospel. Yet in many third world countries under the tyranny of persecution and opposition, a different Christianity exists. It is virile, rugged, revolutionary in zeal, and there is a preparedness amongst the Christians to 'lay down their lives' for the cross (Mk 8:34-35)! They endure and soldier on no matter what the enemy may do, whereas many of us with our comfort zones challenged, would be found hollering, 'I'm outta here!'
You see, God tempered their spirits through the highs and lows of their lives. So now nothing moves them. No low can knock them off course and no high can so intoxicate them as to fill them with puffed up pride. Through the good times and the bad, they have learnt the secret of success - to be content whatever the circumstances. As the Apostle Paul said, '. whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength' (Php. 4:12-13). That's tempered Christianity that is in it for the long haul - tried and tested! The prophet Isaiah also reflected on God's tempering process: 'See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake . I do this . I will not yield my glory to another' (Is. 48:10-11).
So through the cycles of God's blessings and the seeming retraction of them, I've come to see His tempering process at work in me. He's putting some backbone into my faith in a way that only tough times can. At other times, and often following immediately after such testings, He takes me to the opposite extreme of abundant blessing. Like the glass that's put through the extremes of hot and cold, so blessings and testings will often go hand in hand. Somewhere recently I read that God '. constantly monitors our psychological and emotional temperature. By exposing us alternately to sorrows and joys, thrills and disappointments, He is fashioning our souls, bringing us to the level of strength and consistency He requires for His work'. And so we can 'run and not grow weary . walk and not be faint' (Isa. 40:28-31).
THE FRUIT OF TEMPERING
God wants to build His church and He can't do it on the false foundations of shifting sand (Mt. 7:26). He's longing for the 'manifestation of the mature sons of God' (Rom 8:19) - people He can build as pillars in the church. Paul spoke of the apostles, James, Peter and John as those 'reputed to be pillars of the church' (Gal. 2:9). He also speaks of the ' foundation of the apostles' (Eph 2:20). The church was built on consistent men and women who were able to absorb heavy blows without being overwhelmed and experience success without becoming proud. And God's recipe for the church hasn't changed one iota. He wants us too to join the grand parade of apostles, martyrs and faithful disciples through the centuries, who without wavering served their Lord, tried and tested.
The apostle Peter states that 'those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good' (1 Pet 4:19). In other words, suffering is part of the Christian deal. Now, when confronted by God's tempering process, you can determine to resist it, thereby hardening your heart and allowing a 'root of bitterness' to spring up (Heb 12:15). Alternatively you can determine to trust God, remain soft and malleable, and allow Him to fashion you 'under His mighty hand' (1 Peter 5:6). Remember we're perfected through suffering (Heb 2:10).
Let me complete the reference from James quoted earlier in this article; '... the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything ' (Jas. 1:4). That's God's objective in it all; to make you complete and so a pillar in His church.
'So the next time life throws cold water on your red hot circumstances, remember this: The Temperer is at work in your soul. The devil may be standing there holding the water bucket, but the Lord has sent him.' Remember this, and hang on to the well quoted axiom of scripture: 'for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose' (Php. 2:13). It's what will help you make sense of, and grow through, the hard times.