The Refining Fire

Today I preached at the 11am service at Evangelical Community Church, and the subject of my message was on "The Life of Joseph" (as part of a continuing series I'm taking on "Famous People of the Bible"). I want to share briefly with you a couple of thoughts from that message, particularly some verses which have meant a lot to me over the last few days.

Psalm 105:16-22 says:

"[God] called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them - Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true. The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free. He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom."

The first thing I noted from this passage is that the Bible specifically tells us that God "called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food." Now I don't believe that every famine or natural disaster is engineered by God (most natural disasters, I believe, are simply the indirect result of the fact that mankind has turned away from the Lord). But I do believe that God is totally sovereign and more than able to engineer a famine, if He so chooses, to either judge a nation or to further His purpose in some other way.

In this case, Psalm 105:16 is very clear that God was the prime-mover behind this famine. Romans 8:28 tells us that God is able to use even adverse circumstances to further His plan for our lives, because "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Later, Joseph would state this clearly in Genesis 50:20:

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Even though it had been his brothers who had, in an act of malice, sold him into slavery, Joseph saw beyond the human action to the overriding divine action in his circumstances, and in Genesis 45:7 said:

"But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance."

This is repeated in Psalm 105:17 when it says that it was God who "sent a man before them - Joseph, sold as a slave."

This is the solid basis of our faith: God is ultimately in control. He is more than capable of turning even the most contrary of circumstances into something that will further His plan and purpose for our lives.

As we follow the story of Joseph, we see that everything happened exactly the opposite of what God had promised. Instead of ruling over his brothers, he ends up a slave in Egypt. But even in slavery, Joseph proves himself faithful and he rises to the top of his situation. I believe the Lord wants this to be true for us as well. Jesus said, in Matthew 25:21, that the one who is "faithful with a few things" will be "put...in charge of many things." We are to show ourselves faithful in the time of trial and testing, for when, like Joseph, we are finally released into the fullness of God's plan for our lives, that faithfulness will be the seed of greater authority to come.

We see this in Joseph's life in each of its many stages. Even though he was sold as a slave, then later falsely accused, within each "prison" experience, Joseph rose, like cream, to the top of his situation. Psalm 105:18-19 describes this dynamic in a very special way:

"They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true."

The Amplified Bible renders Psalm 105:18-19 in this way:

"His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains of iron and his soul entered into the iron, until his word [to his cruel brothers] came true, until the word of the Lord tried and tested him."

The language being used here is the language of the refinery. The word "to prove" or "to test" is the same word used when referring to the refining of precious metals. In other words, it wasn't just that God's word eventually was proved true in Joseph's circumtances; rather, the Word of God itself actually "proved" Joseph - it "tried" him and "refined" him, as if by fire.

Psalm 66:10 also uses the same kind of "refining" language, when it says:

"For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver."

Likewise, Isaiah 48:10 says:"

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."

I particularly love the wording of Psalm 12:6:

"And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times."

We are that "furnace of clay" (note 2 Corinthians 4:7), and it is in us -- in the clay furnace of our lives -- that the "words of the LORD" are "refined" and "purified seven times."

In 1 Peter 1:6-7, Peter uses the same kind of refining language when speaking of the "fiery trials" (1 Peter 4:12, KJV) we face as Christians:

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.These have come so that your faith -- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

What kind of "fiery trial" are you going through right now? This has happened, says Peter, so that your faith may be refined and purified, resulting in something worth even more than pure gold. This is why James wrote, in James 1:2-4:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Like Joseph, there will come a time when you are set free from the refining fire and released into the fullness of God's purpose for your life. But until then, let faith do its refining work in your life. Allow your persevering faith to "finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."