Psalm 66:10 “You have tested us, O God; you have purified us like silver melted in a crucible.” (NLT)
I felt squeezed and helpless. The news hit hard, especially since I was three hours away. Every light that should have been green was red. Slow drivers were out in force. The speed limit seemed profanely slow.
My daughter had been in a wreck, and my brother and I were hours away hiking. I suppose most parents teach their children how to drive before they get their license, and we were no different. Now she had turned too wide onto a side road, descended down an embankment and hit a tree. Her seat belt had prevented injury, but my truck was totaled.
The news elicited a mixture of feelings. Joy that she was not hurt. Sadness over the state of my favorite ride. And anxiousness over the ramifications of her driving without a license. I felt I had been cast into the bottom of a crucible.
Crucibles are containers in which metals and other substances are melted or subjected to very high temperatures. In laboratories, they may hold heated chemical compounds. They can be used for melting silver allowing it to be alloyed with other metals for workability.
Faith is also formed in crucibles. Not evil ones but crucibles nevertheless. God deposits us here through trials and tests. He turns up the heat allowing it to reach degrees that seem almost unbearable. And if he doesn’t do it, he allows someone else to.
Death takes a loved one or friend. Cancer is discovered. An accident results in permanent and life changing injuries. A parent has to be placed in a nursing home. A child rebels. Your favorite pet dies. A job is lost. A home burns. Crucibles that test and stretch our faith determining the firmness of our foundation.
But God’s crucibles have purpose and are designed to form not destroy our faith. Let a response of trust-even in the midst of anxiety and misunderstanding, take your faith to a new level.
Prayer: Father, when we don’t understand the reason for the crucible, enable us to trust Your love.
Martin Wiles mandmwiles@homesc.com
Harleyville, South Carolina, USA
www.morningliteministry.com