Tried In The Fire

James1:2-4, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
There is a type of pottery that comes with a very explicit statement about its creation. It is called Raku and it is said to be hand crafted and the spirit of the artist to speak through the finished work with particular directness and intimacy. The potter shapes the pot then it is fired in the kiln. As it comes out of the fire glowing red hot it is placed in a smoldering saw dust pile where it will remain until it is finished. The results are a “one of a kind” masterpiece.
So it is with us as we bear the imprint of the Potters hand. He has spoken through His work with particular directness and intimacy. Each of us has been formed in a unique way and for a specific purpose. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
Just like the pottery we too must be tried by fire until we are ready for us by the master. Our trying sometimes comes through tribulations sometimes by the simple fact of living life. Though we are created for good works we are not finished. We must endure the kiln of experience to perfect the finished product. Aching hearts, weary spirits, aging bodies are the process God uses to finish the work He has begun.
Just like a pot that has just come off the potter’s wheel we are of little use until we have been placed in the kiln and tried by fire. We may think we are being destroyed but in fact we are being perfected. God has a plan and he knows how we are to be used for His glory and He is perfecting His creation. Unlike the pottery that must stay in the kiln until finished we can choose to get away from the fire. We can walk away from the finishing process. If God truly wants to use us he will place us back in the fire until we are finished and ready for use. In the example of the Raku pottery once the piece has been removed from the fire it is not finished until it has spent time in a perfecting hot bed.
Don’t fear the furnace that may surround you. Be “patient in tribulation” and wait the finished product. “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:4
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
“We are here to be perfected, only God our needs can see; rarest gems bear hardest grinding, God’s own workmanship are we.” ---- Anonymous