Burnt to Maturity

The prayer that most Christians pray when facing trials is one of escape or “take it away Lord, take it away!” We begin to question ourselves to the core and challenge our motives; sometimes we will even question God or our faith. When we do these things we need to be comforted to the fact that it is normal human behavior to act this way when facing difficult times. I know when I face trials along the way; my faith is rattled to the core at times. It may not last for very long, but the soul will face some “dark nights” along its journey to maturity.

The Biblical text of James 1:12 encourages the one who perseveres under the trials of life of an eternal award that awaits them in the end. I Peter 1:6-9 also encourages and awakens us to the reality that the trial will “burn” or it will bring unwanted pain. Just as the matter of gold is refined repeatedly until it is free of all impurity, so the soul is “burnt” to maturity as the years and trials pass. As total maturity is never reached, so the soul will continue to be refined along the way. The sustainment of the soul in the midst of the fires and furnaces is its anchored trust in Jesus Christ.

Christ has faced and overcome the greatest fire of all. The fire of Calvary, the pain of the cross and the events leading up to that dark day in history. It in the midst of the fires that we see and feel the embrace of the Father. The prayer is not one of escape, but rather one of being burnt in the best way possible for growth and trust to occur. The trials that we face along the way will “burn” us to maturity and we will look back one day and have a deeper trust in Jesus as a result.

Trent Tanaro (Aim Alum, Wyoming 95)