Impurities
As little as we may like to admit it, all true faith is mixed with impurities of various kinds. Our trust in God is mixed with trust in idols.
Our so-called pound of faith is alloyed with an ounce of trust in our own righteousness, a few ounces of trust in our families, an ounce of trust in our abilities and a few more ounces of trust in our wealth.
Our "pound of faith", it turns out, is more like a few ounces of genuine faith in God alone, and a whole lot of faith in other idols.
Idols can be good gifts of God, but created gifts never designed to bear the weight of divinity or to satisfy the infinite longings of our souls.
The Tests of God
And so God allows our faith to be tested in the crucible of affliction. And little by little he exposes our idols and urges us to repent of them.
He allows our health to be tested, so to remove our trust in personal strength. He takes away some of our wealth, so to expose and diminish our trust in money. He allows us to pass through severe satanic afflictions to teach us not to trust in any of our own righteounsess. He allows strains in family relationships to expose our trust in family members. And ouch, he allows our reputation to be shredded in the mill of satanic opposition to show us how reliant we have been on what others think about us!
And in pandemic era, our trust in Christians friends is being tested. Can the Lord alone meet all our needs - or not?
In the analogy of the apostle Peter, all the various trials we face, are like a fire that purifies the gold of our faith.
Impurities remain locked solid in gold until the block is melted in flames of heat. We do not even know the impurities are there! It is only in the fire that they rise to the surface where they can be recognised and then skimmed away.
Idols are revealed in trials. The things that cause us the most pain, are likely to be the things we hold too dearly to and rely too much upon. So pain is a good barometer of idolatry.
But why do we need purer faith?
But, asks someone, why do I need purer faith? There are two reasons.
For our good. The pslamist says this "My soul finds rest in God alone." (Psalm 62:1). God has made us so that we find our greatest joy when we trust in God alone. While our soul trusts in money, reputation, family, wealth or gifts, it will always feel uneasy and be fragile. Of course, for those things may fail at any moment.
Take the idol of self-righteousness. If we secretly think God is pleased with us most when we are being 'good' (and there resides a bit of the Pharisee in every redeemed saint), we shall sink to the depths when we fall. That drowning may include true sorrow and repentance, but it could also be sorrow for the damage to an idol - our supposed goodness. God may allow us to be tempted - and dare I say it, permit us to fall - to show us that "no good things dwells in me" (Romans 7:18) and to turn us back to Christ our only righteousness.
The Lord wants to wean us from all human idols, because only then can our souls truly rest, when they rest in God alone.
For the glory of God. More importantly, God purifies our faith to bring glory to himself when Jesus Christ returns. True faith emerging from the fires of affliction will "result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7).
Thank the Lord for Trials
And so, and so, and so, we ought to thank the Lord for all the trials he allows our way, because they will result in greater soul-rest and greater glory to God.
The faith that emerges at the other end of a dark tunnel may seem smaller and even weaker, but it will, for sure, be purer.
have nothing else to fear;
make you his service your delight,
your wants shall be his care.
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