GOD PROVES YOU BEFORE HE CAN USE YOU

“Until the time came to fulfill his dreams, the LORD tested Joseph’s character.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭105:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

As I was preparing my life to go into ministry (Bible school, serving, etc.) my father pulled me aside and gave me some great words of wisdom.  He said, God is not going to make it easy for you just because you grew up in a pastor's home.  There will be no short-cuts.  God will make ever turn difficult and hard."

I didn't fully understand that at the time.  In fact, I thought He had just totally "missed it."  I thought, "I've been serving God all my life and I've sat under my parents and now everything was about to fall into place.  Watch out Billy Graham."

I envisioned my church full and overflowing and my ministry growing exponentially.

How wrong I was.

God made every turn difficult and hard and made sure that I wasn't going to take any short-cuts ever.

And that was the best thing for me.  It is what made me to be who I am today. It put a resilience  in me that has kept me focused for the long haul.  The fire tested me and made me stronger.

“Remove the dross from the silver, and a silversmith can produce a vessel;” Proverbs‬ ‭25:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” Proverbs‬ ‭17:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In my first church there was a man my age who was a jeweler.  He designed and made the most beautiful jewelry.

I remember visiting him one day in his basement just to hang out with him.  I watched how he heated up the silver and waited for the dross to come to the top.  He would then scrape it and heat it up some more.  

He told me that a jeweler will do this 7x's in order to make the silver as pure as possible.

In our own lives God heats things up for us in order to remove all the dross from our own lives.

Before God can really use us He has to prepare our vessel.  He allows trials and difficulties to come to us with great heat and fire.  He burns away anything that is not pleasing to Him.

God gives us enough to make us uncomfortable but never so much that we can't take it.

He tests our character to see how we are going to handle ourselves in our attitude, our speech and our conduct.

Do we pass or fail?  

For some of us we have to go into the same fire over and over until we finally "get it."  Then, God moves us forward to begin training us for what lies ahead.

I look back now and remember some of the trials that I endured when I was young verses the trials I had to deal with as I got older.  There is no comparison.  I would never have been able to deal with back then what I've had to deal with now.

But God is faithful and He always brought me through.  He has built his character in me and is still developing me in other areas.  I am so grateful.

"So be truly glad.  There is a wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for awhile. These trials will show that your faith is genuine.  It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold - though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." 1 Peter 1:6-7 NLT