"I love you, God," we say it all the time. I know I do!
Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada and it is a good thing when our love for the Lord overflows with words of praise and adoration, but we easily deceive ourselves unless that love for God is proved through a test. Love will say, "Oh, I’ll do anything for you, God; I'll follow you anywhere." Ah, but obedience will say, "... and let me prove it." Obedience is not so much for God's sake, although it is, but mostly it’s for our sake. God already knows how deep our love is for Him, but the point here is, God wants us to realize the depth of our love for Him.
And so He tests us. Psalm 66 describes it this way, “For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs... Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me.” There you have it, God is the one who brings us "into prisons" and "lays burdens on our backs." All the while He never "withholds His love from us." His love drives Him to test us in order to refine us like silver. And here’s a good question: Why does God's Word use silver as a description for that refining process? Well, when gold is put through a refining process, it involves heat, as in a furnace. But when silver is refined, it involves pressure, as when one crushes a metal in a crucible. When a test heats up, you want to escape; but when a trial is pressuring you, you want to cave in and collapse. But if we hold on, remain faithful, and rigorously obey, our faith becomes refined. Obedience melts away pride and bitterness. Obedience crushes into dust all your self-centeredness and reveals a heart, pure and at peace.
Proverbs 17:3 says, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” And you know, when I look back on those early days when I was in the hospital, man, I felt as though I were being crushed in the crucible. I felt like God was grinding my heart into powder, pressuring and pushing me from every side. But overall, as I look back, I do praise God for His wisdom. He gave me sustaining grace through the hardest times and now, so many years later, my faith is all the stronger for it. Not only that, but I learned how to draw and paint with my mouth… the hours I spent at my art easel disciplining myself to hold the pens and pencils between my teeth were so difficult, but when I see how many people have been blessed by my artwork, well… that says it all. And friend, today I’d love to send you a sample of my paintings which have been reproduced on a beautiful foldout Christmas card – there’s a photo on the back that shows me drawing with my mouth and I think this card would be a great way to share the story of God's sustaining grace with those who don’t know Him… your neighbor, a coworker, someone at school… This foldout card can be a great tool to share the Good News of Jesus with others, especially this Christmas season. To get this special gift, just go online at joniandfriendsradio.org and you can always call us toll free at 888-522-5664.
Finally, others will notice when you come forth shining after a crucible experience. They may applaud your perseverance and even this can be a test for Proverbs 27 says, "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives." So what do you say to people after they tell you how amazed they are that you’ve endured such a hard test? Just point them back to Jesus and His grace that sustained you in that crucible. And He did it to prove your love to Him.
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