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From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

 

Dear Rev. Graham: When God’s people go through a time of testing, is it true that outcomes seem to produce results that amount to gold? – T.G.

 

Dear T.G.: Job, the Old Testament saint, considered the wonders of God in the midst of his trials and hardships, he proclaimed: “When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10, NKJV).

Anyone who goes through difficulties – keeping their eyes on the Lord and trusting Him for the result – will come forth victoriously. The laws of nature provide insight.

A bar of raw steel may be purchased for a few dollars. But when that bar of steel has been thrust into the fires and processed, when it has been tempered and forged and made into tiny watch springs for expensive watches, that bar of raw steel is turned into something worth thousands of dollars. Fire and the skilled hands of master artisans make the difference in the value.

Just as the sun by its heat and light performs a thousand miracles a day in the plant kingdom, God through the refining fire of His Spirit performs a thousand miracles a day in the spiritual realm. His regenerating power can take the dull and ordinary things of our lives – even the burned-out ashes of our past – and forge them into something useful, even beautiful, for His purposes.

The Apostle Peter wrote concerning trials, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to [glorify] … Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7, NKJV).

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)