Zechariah 13:9
“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”
Nobody has ever been used greatly by God without first going through trials. Whether or not we like it, it is the trial that God uses to determine how much He will invest in our life. You will notice that God says, “I will bring the third part through the fire.” God did not say that He would bring them to the fire and bring them out, but He would bring them “through” the fire. In other words, once you enter the fire, the only way out with God is through the other side.
Years ago, when I was learning to fly, my instructor told me that if I ever found myself in a storm, never turn around, but always go forward through the storm. He said that if I turned around in the storm, I may be turning back into it, which could hurt my safety. One day I found myself in a storm, and the training of my instructor came to help me as I flew through the storm and got to the other side. Just like I got through the other side of the storm, you must also go through the fire to get to the other side of God using you. There are several reasons God sends you through the fire before He chooses to use you.
First, God sends you through the fire to refine you. Nothing reveals your weaknesses like trials; what you do when your weaknesses are revealed determines whether you make it through the fire. The refining process is never easy because the impurity has become a part of your life and is being ripped away from you; however, removing the impurities is what makes you a better tool for God to use.
Second, God sends you through the fire to test you. The fire tests your heart of who you love. Many have said they loved God until the trial came, and the trial revealed their lack of love for God because they quit and went to the world. The fire tests your resolve of how much it takes to get you to quit on God. You must determine not to let the fire be your quitting point because if it causes you to quit, Satan always knows what to do to get you to quit. The fire is your test to prove to God that you won’t quit, and your test to you that you have it within you not to quit.
Third, God sends you through the fire to make you call on Him. There comes a breaking point in every trial that forces the child of God to call out to God in prayer for help. This is one of the greatest points in your life, because the fire makes you trust God instead of yourself. If the only thing the trial does is to make you call on God and trust Him, then it is worth going through. You will never regret the moment that God forced you to the point to trust Him.
Fourth, God sends you through the fire so that His glory may be seen in your life. 1 Peter 4:13 says, “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” God can only be seen in your life as you go through hard times. If the trial causes God’s glory to be seen in your life, the trial becomes a great thing.
My friend, you will never get THROUGH the fire without the fire doing these things in your life. Don’t fight the trials, but let them do their work in you so that you can become the vessel that God is trying to make with your life.
