Are You In The Furnice Of Affliction?

Hello dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Throughout our life (in this world) we will suffer sorrows, rejections, shame and sickness... so when we suffer these things what should our reaction be?

Isaiah 48:10 "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."
Silver is kept in a furnace until all the dross is eliminated, and this is what God is talking about. He's saying, "I will not deal so harshly with you that you burn up in the furnace of affliction... but will purify you by allowing you to go through much suffering."

Pain's Furnace Heat

Pain's furnace heat within me quivers
God's breath upon the flame does blow;
And all my heart in anguish shivers
And trembles at the fiery glow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And in the hottest fire hold still.

He comes and lays my heart, all heated,
On the hard anvil, minded so
Into His own fair shape to beat it
With His great hammer, blow on blow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And at His heaviest blows hold still.

He takes my softened heart and beats it;
The sparks fly off at every blow;
He turns it 0'er and heats it,
And lets it cool, and makes it glow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And in His mighty hand hold still.

Why should I complain? for the sorrow
Then only longer-lived would be;
The end may come, and will tomorrow,
When God has done His work in me;
So I say trusting, "As God will!"
And, trusting to the end, hold still.

~ Julius Sturm (1816 - 1896)

Perhaps you are suffering and wondering why God is allowing you to go through such deep pain. Listen, if you are a believer (one who believes Jesus is God and believes what He did to save you) then you can also believe God has chosen you and He is perfecting you. You may be going through a furnace of affliction like no other - but dear one... do not be alarmed, do not be dismayed and do not be discouraged for God has said He will never forsake those He has chosen.

Hebrews 13:5 "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

If you ever get a chance to read George MacDonald's books don't pass it by. I have several of his books and wish for more. The great author, C. S. Lewis, wrote the following about George MacDonald, "I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself!"

George MacDonald wrote more than 50 books and the few I have were edited by Dan Hamilton and published by Victor Books. He was born in Germany in 1824 and died in 1905. The reason I'm telling you this is because of what George MacDonald said about trusting God:

"Trusting, even when it appears you have been forsaken; praying when it seems your words are simply entering a vast expanse where no one hears and no voice answers; believing that God's love is complete and that He is aware of your circumstances, even when your world seems to grind on as if setting it's own direction and not caring for life or moving one inch in response to your petitions; desiring only what God's hands have planned for you; waiting patiently while seemingly starving to death, with your only fear being that your faith might fail - 'this is the victory that has overcome the world'; this is genuine faith indeed."

God is looking for those whose hearts are firmly established in His Word - those who will continually trust Him no matter their circumstances. I became a Christian at the age of 30 but never completely surrendered my will to God until a few years ago. God had to bring me through many fiery-furnaces of pain and horrible circumstances of shame before I finally surrendered my all to Him... and yet... even today I sometimes find myself going my own way. Nevertheless, always, always God brings me back to Himself through suffering some shame or sorrow.


No Will But Thine

Jesus, 'tis my aim divine,
Hence to have no will but thine,
Let me covenant with thee,
Thine for evermore to be:
This my prayer, and this alone,
Savior, let thy will be done!

Thee to love, to live to thee,
This my daily portion be,
Nothing to my Lord I give,
But from him I first receive:
Lord, for me thy blood was spilt,
Lead me, guide me, as thou wilt.

All that is opposed to thee,
Howsoever dear it be,
From my heart the idol tear,
Thou shalt have no rival there,
Only thou shalt fill the throne:
Savior, let thy will be done.

Wilt thou, Lord, in me fulfill
All the pleasure of thy will;
Thine in life, and thine in death,
Thine in every fleeting breath,
Thou my hope and joy alone:
Savior, let thy will be done.

—Octavius Winslow (1808 - 1878)

I shall be eternally grateful for the precious pain of shame that humbles me, and the cherished grief of sorrow that softens my heart because they always bring me back to the One who loves me and only wants the very best for me. Oh, I despise it, as we all do, when I have to go through a fiery furnace of affliction. Now, however, I do not fight it because on the other side I know I will see God's hand in it and thank Him for the lessons learned.

I well remember the day (years ago) when I prayed for God to do whatever it would take to make me more Christ-like... and He has been faithful to my request! God will always do whatever it takes to make us into the Christian He wants us to be - even if we never pray for it - but I believe God is pleased when we pray for it.

Listen, dear Christian, we must be willing to pay the price of having our pride crushed by shame and our will pulverized by grief, or we will never come to know the deep joy of faith and the sure peace of trust (the peace that passes understanding).

Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

The peace that passes understanding can only be obtained by those who've come to trust God no matter their circumstances. The sure aim of the furnace of affliction is to perfect us and if we truly believe this we can be at peace in God's furnace. Not that we won't suffer the feelings of pain and sorrow - but in spite of our feelings we can have peace in knowing God's hand is in everything that comes to us. When we are suffering we may feel as though the pain will never end but when we trust God for it He will show us a wider perspective of our suffering.

My times are in Thy hand;
My God, I wish them there;
My life, my friends, my soul I leave
Entirely to Thy care.

My times are in Thy hand;
Whatever they may be;
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to Thee.

My times are in Thy hand;
Why should I doubt or fear?
My Father’s hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

My times are in Thy hand,
Jesus, the crucified!
Those hands my cruel sins had pierced
Are now my guard and guide.

My times are in Thy hand,
I’ll always trust in Thee;
And, after death, at Thy right hand
I shall forever be.
--- William F. Lloyd (1791-1853)

Matthew Henry, in one of his commentaries, said: "God is much displeased when he is distrusted and when an arm of flesh is relied on more than his power and goodness. By putting our confidence in God we give honor to him."

That great Presbyterian pastor, J. R. Miller (1840 - 1912) wrote, “Whole, unbruised, unbroken men are of little use to God.” So, what is involved in being broken by God? “One is not broken until all resentment and rebellion against God and man is removed. One who resents, takes offense, or retaliates against criticism and opposition or lack of appreciation is unbroken. All self-justification and self-defense betrays an unbroken spirit. All discontent and irritation with providential circumstances and situations reveals unbrokeness. Genuine brokenness usually requires years of crushing, heartache, and sorrow. Thus are self-will surrendered and deep degrees of yieldedness and submission developed, without which there is little agape love…Until one is broken, he is full of himself, his plans, his ambitions, his value judgments. One is often so full of self that there is little room for more of God.” This is a great truth so when you suffer remember these words and tell God you are willing to suffer quietly through His furnace of affliction.

"Every step on the pathway of spiritual progress will be marked by the bloody footprints of wounded self-love." ~ Alexander MacLaren (1826 - 1910)

That great Scottish preacher, Andrew Bonar (1810 - 1892), often left a thought with someone who was sick and I have hid his words in my heart in case I suffer a serious illness - He would say to the sick person: "...You may be teaching angels (Ephesians 3:10). Angels learn much by visiting God's people. They know nothing of suffering themselves, but they learn from the patience and joyfulness of suffering believers. When the sick one enters heaven, some of the angels will say, 'Oh, here is my teacher come!' ". I have Andrew Bonar's diary and life book (first published in 1893) and what a blessing it has been to my soul!

No matter what type of "furnace of affliction" we go through, we can be sure God is not taken by surprise and He knows before-hand what is going to happen. Therefore, you can be sure God will come to save you just at the perfect time. Meanwhile, be still and wait upon the Lord... Remember, what happens to you isn't as important as how you react to it.

Be Still, Be Still

O' troubled soul, beneath the rod,
Your Father speaks, be still, be still;
Learn to be silent unto God,
And let Him mold you to His will.

O' praying soul, be still, be still,
He cannot break His promised Word;
Sink down into His blessed will,
And wait in patience on the Lord.

O' waiting soul, be still, be strong,
And though He tarry, trust and wait;
Doubt not, He will not wait too long,
Fear not, He will not come too late.

Mrs. L.B. Cowman (1870 - 1960)

For those of you who are suffering from depression I want to encourage you to visit this site and read the testimony of this woman who fought and won the battle over depression.

http://www.earnestlycontending.com/KT/Studies/living/depressionstudy.html


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"The Lord bless thee, and, keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace " ~ Numbers 6:24-26.

I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work through me.
~~ Hudson Taylor


In His tender care always,
Dot


"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."
~~ HEBREWS 12:1

"Anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it."
~~ J. Wilbur Chapman (1859-1918)


Acknowledgements

* Many hours have been spent in doing this study. A lot of my study was done using my Life Application Study Bible (KJV) by Tyndale House Publishers and I heavily relied on the explanatory notes for each verse I used because I couldn't have explained them better.

* I also relied heavily on my New American Standard Bible by Thomas Nelson Publishers for double checking the meaning of the verses I used in the King James Version. Not that I think the NAS Bible is better than the KJV Bible, but it gives me more insight into some of the KJV Bible verses.

* Most of my study was done using the E-Sword program from this site: http://www.e-sword.net/ I downloaded all their commentaries and bought others. The maps and teachers aids are so valuable that I can now do a study in half the time I took before. All the quotes from commentaries by great Theologians came from the E-Sword program.



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http://dotsdogma.blogspot.com/


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