06172023 Coming Forth

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the Almighty God. God has all the power to do everything that He designs to do, and His designs are grand.

Job said, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

When we are in the midst of a trial, it is right for us to find hope in the expected outcome. Job expected to come forth as gold. Peter gives the same picture when he speaks of the refining fire that purifies, resulting in a valuable product. It is a comfort, and at times a humbling realization, to think that the end of this difficult process will somehow be ourselves as something valuable and precious.

As I was pondering this verse, I realized that the outcome is not dependent on me. The fact that I, or any of us, can come forth as gold is the result of God's actions. There is nothing in this verse that talks about what I do. Instead, it talks about what God does.

It starts with what God knows. God knows my path. That is more than simply omniscient knowledge of facts and details. It is the knowledge of the designer and architect. God knows the path because He created the path. If the path ends up somewhere good, it is because God has designed a path that travels to a good place. I am not designing or traveling my own path; I am traveling the path that God has designed.

The verse also talks about what God does. God tries me. He refines and purifies. He removes the dross. God knows exactly how to manage the refining fire. He knows how hot to make it, how long to make it last, and how many times I must pass through it. I am not refining myself; God is refining me.

In fact, the only thing I am doing in the verse is coming forth. Even this is not active or deliberate on my part. It is merely emerging. Although the metaphor is not quite right, it is like I am riding God's conveyor belt. After I pass all the way through the machine, I exit. But I didn't carry myself through, and I didn't emerge on my own. I simply came out when God's machine expelled me.

I'm very glad that the knowledge and the planning are God’s. I'm also very glad that the refining action is God's. If it were up to me to plan and purify myself, there is no possibility that I would emerge as gold. With God at the controls, however, there is a great assurance of this blessed result.

I must simply trust Him. I must trust God to design the right path for me that He knows will come out at the right place. I must trust God to carefully and thoroughly refine so that I become what He wants me to be. I must trust God to work out the entire process so that I emerge after the fullness of the process and not before.

Some fires are big, and some fires are small, but they are pretty constant in the believer’s life. So, whatever God is doing now in your life, rest assured that it will be just right to accomplish the beautiful result that He desires. May God give you grace to ride through the process until you emerge in beauty and value.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA