Refined by Fire
After 50 years of being in a wheelchair, you’d think I’d be a professional at handling hardships. But I’ve still got much to learn. When the pain in my hip keeps me up night after night, or when a pressure sore forces me to lie in bed for days, I am quick to feel like I just can’t do it anymore. But then I picture my Savior, beaten and nailed to the cross — Jesus, the Man of Sorrows. And I’m reminded of Christ’s words in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Sure, I’d like to think I follow Jesus Christ down the hard, blood-stained path to Calvary every day. But the truth is, not one of us is inclined to go there. When it comes to our suffering, most of us have no clue what to do. We try to avoid it, escape it, drug it, divorce it, tolerate it… we do anything but actually live with it.
So, how can we follow in Jesus’ steps, even when things don’t change? When the migraines don’t get healed, or the marriage isn’t mended, or the income doesn’t improve? It’s a matter of daily picking up your cross and dying to the sins that Jesus already died for on His cross. It’s about nailing my anxieties and fears, my tendency to complain, and my sour attitude when times are tough. So that in doing so, I may be refined by fire; I may be made holy as He is holy. Friend, that is what daily revival is all about. It’s what the Lord placed in my heart to share earlier this month at the recent Ligonier Ministries 2018 National Conference — and it’s a message that I hope will bless you as you seek to follow Jesus in your daily living. Be encouraged, and then share this video with a friend.
