High school for me was a blur. It was dotted with the typical trials and tribulations most teenage boys encounter. Yet through it all, there are numerous memories that stand above the rest. One of which was shop class. I loved shop class. It was the window of fresh air in the middle of my very mundane and stale week of school. Shop class raptured me from the day to day trappings of geometry and literature. Picture, if you will, teenage boys getting to play with things like band saws and drill presses…in the middle of the day…AT SCHOOL! That was so cool. To top off the coolness of our class was our instructor. I don’t remember his name but I do remember one thing about him; he had nine fingers. Do you see the irony in that? A shop teacher with nine fingers teaching teenage boys how to handle power tools? We thought it was awesome…but I digress.
Amidst the lure of all the power tools stood one instrument that fascinated me; it was the kiln. The basic purpose of the kiln is to heat materials and transform them at high temperatures. My first experience working with the kiln was making a ceramic horse (I called it Rex) for my mom for mother’s day. After going through great lengths of work and preparations to get Rex ready for my mom, he still had to face the fire. Rex had to go through extreme heat. You and I have kilns we must face. Heat has to be applied to our lives in order for transformation. Heat burns away non-essentials. It brings change.
Part of the core of Christianity is the precept believers must walk through adversity. Let me state for the record that as a finite, limited man, I struggle with the ultimate purpose why a Sovereign God chooses to allow pain and trial to be partner for life for his people. I can recite the Seminary clichés or Sunday school answers as to why but yet, when you personally experience the kiln of God, sometimes those prepackaged theological answers seem a bit trite.
Ultimately I find myself, like my old family pet Flops (God rest her soul), chasing my tail trying to completely comprehend the ultimate purpose of “The Kiln”. But through all my searching, I remind myself I may never fully understand the purpose for fire…for pain…for suffering.
Pain in the believer’s life is undeniable. Jesus said, “In this world, you will face troubles”. Anyone who has a Pollyanna view of Christianity is short-sided and misguided. From cover to cover the Scriptures scream the certainty of heat in our life.
Pain in our life is also unavoidable. Pastor James tells his congregation in James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds”. You can’t hide from it; at some point, we all experience it.
Pain in our life is unpredictable. I love the terminology James chooses to use, “…whenever you face (fall into) trials of many kinds.” He uses the same words Jesus chooses in the telling of the man who fell among thieves and was beaten near death only to be rescued by a Samaritan man. The idea is the difficulties this man faced came from out of nowhere. He was going along his journey in life and suddenly, without warning, the pain came.
It is not a question of “if” but rather “when” will we face “the kiln”. When you walk through the fire, remember the words of Isaiah 43:1-3, “But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God.”
I close with this: God really is who He says He is and His word really is true. Through the pain, through the dark, through the tears, focus on truth-what God says about Himself. He is our great God who orchestrates the seasons in the kiln to bring glory to Himself and good for His kids.
I love the words of Paul in II Corinthians 4:8-10. If you our experiencing holy heat, may God’s word encourage you. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body”
My prayer for you today is this: 10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. I Peter 5:10-11
