16 Growth in the Crucible

Copyright © 2023 Michael A. Brown

‘…we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope.’ (Romans 5:3-4 NIV)

‘…knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.’ (Romans 5:3-4 AV)

      The Greek word dokimē used in Romans 5:4, translated variously in English as ‘character’ (NIV) or ‘experience’ (AV), refers to the process of proving something, so that, after having been tested, it might be approved for use.  It relates closely to several other similar Greek words having the various meanings of ‘a test,’ ‘tested,’ ‘approved,’ ‘prove,’ ‘examine,’ ‘experience,’ ‘experiment,’ ‘trial,’ ‘tried,’ ‘acceptable,’ ‘trustworthiness,’ and ‘crucible.’  In the Old Testament, the equivalent Hebrew word bachan (used in Job 23:10 ‘when he has tried me’) can be rendered variously as ‘investigate,’ ‘examine,’ ‘prove’ or ‘test’ and was commonly used of testing metals for use.

      Similarly, the Hebrew word tsaraph means ‘to refine.’  It is used in relation to Joseph in Psalm 105:19 and to the Levite priests in Malachi 3:3.  It is also used in relation to the word of God itself in Psalm 12:6 ‘And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver, refined in a furnace [or crucible] of clay, purified seven times.’  This word was commonly used in everyday life to express the concept of refining and purifying metal ore, in order to separate and remove the dross and dirt, so as to extract the pure molten metal which could then be formed, shaped and used for purposes in everyday life.  We often use a modern-day furnace for such refining work.  This process necessarily involves fire, strong pressure and very high temperatures.  Similarly, as we all know, blacksmiths use fire to heat a piece of metal up so that it can then be hammered and shaped on their anvil for specific practical use.

      This family of Greek words and the above Hebrew words are used figuratively in Romans 5:4 and other passages in the Scriptures to refer to times of testing and trial in life associated with suffering trouble.  The Greek word thlipsis used in verse 3 and translated as ‘tribulation’ (AV) or ‘suffering’ (NIV) is derived from the word thlibo meaning ‘to put pressure on.’  In verses 3-4, the apostle Paul outlines to us a natural progression of experience.  In God’s purpose, the pressure of trouble that we may experience in life from time to time is designed to develop the quality of patient endurance (perseverance) on our part.  Such perseverance then leads to the growth and development of inward spiritual strength and character as we walk with God through the situation and experience him working in our lives.  So our roots go deeper in him.  Such developed and proven character then creates the deep, inward assurance of hope towards God as we go through our lives with him.  We have the deep, assured confidence within that we can trust him in and through all things.

      Of course, the pressure of suffering trouble may not necessarily lead to developing the ability to endure.  As we all know, it sometimes leads to resentment, loss of faith, hardening of the heart and bitterness.  This happens if the believer does not learn the essential lesson that s/he is never expected by God to go through trials and troubles in their own human strength.  To do this is simply to keep on thinking like non-believers, who so often do end up bitter in life.  No, God’s design for us is to learn to go through troubles together with him, by firmly holding onto his hand, walking with him and regularly seeking his presence, and thereby experiencing his overcoming grace and strength within.  This is clear from such verses as Hebrews 4:16 and 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 below:

‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.’

‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect

in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.’

      It is when we learn to appropriate such inward grace and spiritual strength from God’s presence, by determining to seek his face regularly during our times of trouble, that we learn the secret of how to endure through troubles and thereby develop the ability to persevere.  So we endure and persevere not in our own human strength, but through experiencing the working of God’s grace within us.  This is the presupposition in Paul’s statement that, in God’s design, such times of pressure produce perseverance.

      We can only really learn the truth, reliability and trustworthiness of the word of God through practical experience.  Knowing theoretically that God’s word teaches us something, does not change us and it certainly does not help us through life.  Knowledge about God which is merely theoretical tends to collapse when real pressure in life is applied to us.  Furthermore, if God were to bow to the dictates of our fleshly desires for comfort, ease and security, then the likelihood is that we would learn nothing and we would stop growing spiritually.  If we were to have a million pounds in the bank, our every need met and have ongoing guaranteed security in every way, then we would probably move quickly away from him.  We would forget him and consume our lives simply in satisfying our carnal desires (cf. Deut. 8:10-14).  No, God’s purposes for us go much deeper than simply meeting our needs.

      In order to prove the truth and reliability of his word in our lives, in order to develop the ability to persevere, in order that the dross of our carnality and sinful natures might be purged away, and in order that we might develop deeper inward strength in our spiritual character, and therefore that we might be further prepared to be able to be used in his work, God has to allow us to go through processes in life which are formational of these things.  And it is often the fire and crucible of trials and the testing of our faith which he uses to accomplish this.  He allows us to be placed in situations which may well seem like crucibles or furnaces to us, so that we might learn, grow and develop in such ways.  Our flesh screams, of course; we complain and our carnal nature rises up and kicks against it for a while.  However, if we are to grow in God and be formed then we must learn to overcome these tendencies, and if his purposes for us are to be accomplished, then it is necessary that we should undergo such processes from time to time.

      We can all know the subjective sense of the Lord’s presence with us when we are in a season of great blessing.  We can also know his deep comfort and peace strengthening our hearts in times of grief and loss (Ps. 23:4, 84:5-7).  But we also need to learn to know him in those times when we are in the crucible, as it were.  When we walk through the fire, he does not abandon us.  He will be with us and we will not be burned (Isa. 43:2).  The purpose of the fire is not to destroy us, but to refine and purify us.  God is a refiner of his people: ‘For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.  Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness…’ (Mal. 3:2-3, cp. Zech 13:9).  Without times of fire which purge us and without being placed on the anvil from time to time to be hammered and formed into shape, how else can the Lord form us and make us into swords and arrows that are approved for use that we need to become in order to be used effectively by him in his work?  As Isaiah says: ‘He made my mouth like a sharpened sword… he made me into a polished arrow’ (Isa. 49:2).

      For example, how do we learn personally and prove in practical experience that God is Jehovah Jireh our Provider?  Simply because the Bible says so?  Simply by being well-off anyway?  Or is it by being allowed to go through times of material or financial lack or challenge in our lives (with all the stress and anxiety that this may involve), and learning to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, standing boldly and dependently on his promises of provision and then seeing him provide?  For it is then that we will truly learn this truth.  We come to know it for ourselves deep down within.  It is actually experiencing God’s provision in a time of real need that teaches us this truth.

      Similarly, how do we learn that God is Jehovah Rapha our Healer?  We do not learn it simply by quoting the healing promises of the word of God in times when we are healthy and well.  No, the only way we can learn this is by being allowed to go through the ordeal of sickness, by persevering in faith, standing confidently on the promises of healing, and seeing God heal us and bring us through.  It is only through practical experience that we can prove that the word of God to us is true and trustworthy.  It is proving God in experience that produces strong faith.  And the same is true of any other biblical principle.  How do we learn to forgive?  By being in situations in which we have been hurt or offended and becoming willing to give forgiveness through the working of God’s grace within us.  How do we learn the principles of loving our spouse over the long-term of marriage?  By being in the real-life pressure-cooker of marriage (and family life) with all of its differing pressures, demands and challenges.  These biblical truths and principles are all life-applied lessons learned in the fires and on the anvil of life situations.

      We all know the history of the patriarch Joseph.  Perhaps unwise when he was young in sharing his prophetic dreams with his brothers, he was hated and rejected by them.  They faked his death, sold him as a slave into Egypt and lied to their father Jacob about what they had done.  Joseph then laboured as a slave in Potiphar’s house for several years, and, despite his inward grief, pain and unanswered questions, he continued to walk with the Lord, who blessed his work to the point where Potiphar eventually entrusted the management of his entire household to him.  However, a false accusation of sexual misconduct by Potiphar’s evil wife found him thrown into prison where he languished for several more years.  Again, he continued to trust and walk with God through all of the difficulties and inward pain which he was experiencing, and God blessed him by making him the overseer of the entire prison.  It is clear from Joseph’s words in Genesis 40:14-15 that at times he was desperate to get out and escape from all this injustice.  However, what Joseph could never see in this whole period of his life was that it was God’s purpose to take him through all of this, because it was only by walking this path that he could be then brought to the strategic place in which he could be released from the prison after interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, and elevated in a moment to being the head of the Egyptian government, entrusted by Pharaoh with the management of the ensuing national crisis.

      In this experience of Joseph, we can clearly see the principles outlined above being worked out in his life.  He was prophetically called by God at an early age.  However, the fulfilment of the word of the Lord to him did not come about for many years.  The difficult, painful and indeed very unjust pathway which he had to walk would have tested to the hilt his willingness to walk closely with God.  That he deeply felt the pain of it all is clear, but he did not grow bitter and reject God: ‘the word of the Lord proved him true’ in his faith and character (Ps. 105:19 NIV).  He continued to walk with God and learnt to adjust himself to God’s sovereign path for his life.  There would no doubt have been many times when he wondered whether the word of God would ever be fulfilled in his life.  How on earth could it be possible?  But he clung onto it despite everything he was going through.  This pathway proved his willingness and his ability to persevere, refining, developing and deepening his spiritual character, and it also proved to be one which gave him all the necessary time and experience in which he could develop the management and leadership skills which would be necessary for his later ministry: ‘the word of the Lord tried him’ (Ps. 105:19 AV).  And so when the time eventually came for him to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, and to be promoted into a position of responsibility for managing a national crisis, he was ready!

      It was at this turning point and through the later events of the story that Joseph saw and proved that the word of God to him all those years before was indeed true and that it was trustworthy.  He proved the truth of God’s word in his experience.  He now knew that he could trust God in and through everything.  His words to his brothers about his dreams were proven true: ‘the word of the Lord proved him true’ (Ps. 105:19 NIV).  He finally understood what God’s purpose had been all along, and that everything that he had been allowed to go through had a deeply-rooted purpose in God’s heart which was much bigger than his own personal suffering: ‘God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.  So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God…  God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives’ (Gen. 45:7-8, 50:20).

      We can find some of these principles being worked out also in the experience of Job.  His famous words in Job 23:10 ‘but he knows the way that I take: when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold’ have inspired many.  As stated above, the word ‘tested’ in this verse means to be tested and proved.  The crux of Job’s experience is that God allowed him to be tested severely to make the point to Satan that Job’s faith was genuine and that he would never deny his integrity whatever he was allowed to go through (2:3).  Through all his sufferings, even though he could not make sense of why it was happening to him, and even though for a while he could not seem to trace the hand of God in his life (23:3-9), yet Job continued to trust God and he never denied his faith: ‘Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him’ (13:15).  And as we all know, Job eventually met with God in his sufferings (chs. 38-41) and came out of his experience an even stronger believer.  His experiences refined him: ‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.’ (42:5-6). 

      It is this aspect of faith being tested and proved genuine which is brought out for us by the apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:6-7 ‘In this [salvation] 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 honour when Jesus Christ is revealed .’  This reminds us of Daniel’s three friends who, because they refused to compromise their faith and bow down to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue, were quite literally thrown into a furnace of fire.  Their faith was proved genuine and God honoured it by appearing and walking with them in the fire and delivering them miraculously from it (Dan. ch.3).  Let us not ever belittle or doubt how much our faith in him means to God.  He deeply values it and it pleases him.  One day we will be honoured and commended openly for the faith which we displayed in him when we were undergoing trials (cp. Heb. 11:2,5-6).

      Do you remember the words of George Mueller in connection with this principle?  He was the great German missionary who founded and managed several orphanages in Bristol, UK in the nineteenth century which housed thousands of street orphans over a period of several decades until his death (and this ministry still exists today).  He and his staff members took these children off the streets, housed them, fed and clothed them, brought them up and educated them.  This huge demanding ministry was run entirely by faith.  Someone once asked Mueller how he had come to have such great faith, and his reply was very simple: “I have great faith, because I have endured great trials.”

      So will I have times in my life as a believer when it feels like pressure is being piled upon me?  Yes, certainly!  Does God abandon me in such times?  No, never!  Does he know what I am going through?  Yes, utterly, much more than you do yourself!  Can I trust him in such times?  Yes, absolutely!  Can I walk with him through such times, knowing his strength and grace to sustain me?  Yes, hold firmly on to his hand all the way through!  Will he refine me, and will my faith and spiritual character grow stronger through it?  Yes!  Indeed, the words ‘purified seven times’ in Psalm 12:6 suggest that God will repeatedly use such experiences to establish your life firmly on the foundation of his word, so that you can master biblical principles in daily life.  Will the promises of the word of God work for me too?  Yes, always!  Will he bring me through it all?  Yes, it is temporary and only for a season, and it will come to an end!  And will I be better prepared to serve him in the future as a result of what I am going through?  Yes, indeed!

      The fruit of learning and growing in experience through testing is the growth in our lives of deep, inward assurance of hope and love for God (Rom. 5:4-5).  We learn and have come to know that we can walk with him and trust him in and through all things.  It is this living assurance and hope which then gives us deep boldness and confidence in our testimony and preaching to others.  We speak out of that which we know and have learned in experience.  In fact, we can truly teach only what we have proven in experience, as it is only then that we truly know it.  Other people’s testimonies may bless and encourage us, but we cannot live off them.  For the word of God to be formed within us, we must go out ourselves into the furnace of daily human life and prove its veracity and trustworthiness for ourselves.  Then we will be able to give convincing testimonies of our own.  We will have something worth saying and worth hearing, when we have proven it for ourselves.

      God uses and speaks through people whose faith has been proven, whose spiritual character has been developed, and who have proven the truth of his word and its promises and principles in their own personal lives.  It is not quoting the Bible to others that convinces them.  It is words spoken with the depth of conviction that will only come from having the word of God transform and change you in the depths of your own being.  Real preaching comes from a changed life, not from theory (even if it is true theory).  The preaching of theoretical knowledge reaches only people’s heads, and changes no-one.  An ounce of experience in walking with God is far more useful than a ton of theory about him!

      You will normally do your most convincing, mature and effective teaching, preaching and witnessing in your latter years.  This is not to say that younger people cannot do effective spiritual work.  Indeed they can, but rookie preachers can only preach out of the little they have learned and their stock of sermons soon dries up.  It is to underline the fact that it is normally when we are older that we will have had the years and decades needed to thoroughly prove the truth of God’s word and its promises and principles for ourselves in the many varied experiences of life.  Such proven experience makes us strong and it gives our words and character the weight of real spiritual authority.  We can then minister out of a wealth of experience of walking with God in life.

      Don’t ever allow yourself to become jealous or envious of someone else’s ministry, if their ministry seems to be more effective or influential than your own.  They have walked a pathway of experience in life which has shaped and formed them into who they have become in God.  You may well want to emulate them in their ministry, but ask yourself whether you would really want to walk the pathway that they have walked in life, with all the different furnaces and crucibles that they themselves have passed through and which have helped to make them what they are in God.  It is the pathway that we walk that produces maturity and strength of character in life and ministry, not the pulpit itself.