The Refiners Fire

Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, O God, tested us. You refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs . . . we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.

Psalm 66:8–12 NIV

Kim Wickes, who sang at many of our crusades, was a little girl blinded because the retinas of her eyes were destroyed when she looked at a bomb blast. Her father tried to kill her by throwing her into a river. Desperate and at his wit’s end from war and starvation, Kim’s father eventually left her at a home for deaf and blind children in Taegu, Korea. Later she was adopted by some Americans and began the years of study and training which have resulted in a testimony in word and song which has thrilled millions. Her studies took her to the finest schools in the world, including study in Vienna. The events in Kim’s life could have destroyed many people, but by God’s grace she triumphed over adversity.

Today there are thousands of Christians all over the world who are facing daily pain, persecution, and opposition for their faith. Their faith in Christ is deep and strong. Their willingness to face persecution puts us to shame.

I do not understand how the human body can withstand such persecution as some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing today. I only know that when Jesus Christ is with a person, that one can endure the deepest suffering and somehow emerge a better and stronger Christian because of it. Just as fire refines silver, suffering and persecution purify Christians.

Our Father and our God, You are the refiner of my faith. You are the fire within my soul that purifies my heart and mind. Teach me to accept suffering with joy, knowing it will purify me and prepare me to live with You eternally. I put my trust in You through Christ. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).