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
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