Unscorched by the Fire
What a beautiful life God has given us to live and the greatest part of that gift is that He is present to walk through our life with us. Hour by hour, step-by-step, day by day.
But what happens to that beautiful life when all of the sudden we are faced with a heartache, an illness, the loss of a loved one, a devastating accident, a miscarriage, abuse, relationship breakdown, loss of a job (just to name a few of life’s hardships)?
We all will face various trials and tragedies at some point in our lives.
Some of our hardships follow us for a moment, other trial’s tag alongside us for years, others stay with us for a lifetime.
Of course, it is natural and even necessary to allow ourselves to fully feel and to walk through feelings of grief, anger, sadness, despair, guilt & sorrow.
God created and wired us to feel deeply.
However, it is in those moments, as we are walking through the fire of trials, that we have a choice.
We can allow our heart to be jaded.
We can allow our trial to shape and mold our soul with bitterness and hardness that seeps in, leaving us covered with an external aroma of choking, searing smoke from the fiery trial that burned us.
As a result, that toxic smell emanates, reaches and affects everyone around us.
Or, we can surrender ourselves and our trial of hardship to the Lord, allowing Him to have full control and trusting Him through the pain, the brokenness and the despair of it all.
At no time did He ever say that we would go through this life unscathed or unbroken.
But what He did say is that He would be with us always, that He will never leave us or abandon us and that His strength is always our portion, fully available to us.
“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”
Psalms 34:19 NIV
He gives us the most profound guidance and instruction in the first book of James, telling us to look at our trials and our difficult circumstances as JOY!
Knowing that our trials and hardships give us an opportunity to refine our hearts to become more like Him.
When we make that our focus, our attitude and our outlook on our circumstances, He gives us everything we need to walk it out.
Hour by hour, step-by-step, day by day.
“Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.”
James 1:2-4 AMP
When we choose to do things God‘s way and we choose to respond to our circumstances for His purpose, for His glory, (regardless of how difficult and painful things might be) a beautiful fragrance of JESUS emanates from us.
The sweet aroma permeates the atmosphere.
It reaches and affects everyone around us.
“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,”
2 Corinthians 2:14-15
Jesus paid the highest price for us.
He suffered the utmost tragedy.
But He walked out his incredible suffering, emanating love.
He was the ultimate sacrifice to provide a way to forgive us from our sins and also to provide for us in this life an example of how we should live our lives unto the Lord in every circumstance.
His selfless sacrifice (and example to us) was a beautiful and fragrant offering to God.
“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV
As followers of Christ, when we live our life in a way that pleases God, we are offering up a sweet, smelling aroma to Him & that overflows onto those around us -
• Our choices, responses & actions to our circumstances, provide us opportunity after opportunity to honor God and bring Him glory as we respond to them through His Spirit
• Every circumstance & trial in life is an opportunity to give thankfulness to Him, praising Him even in the midst of the fire and suffering
• Choose to stay in a place of surrender to Him - pouring out your all to Him… and remembering that your life is all for Him and because of Him
• Reflect on His example of sacrificial, love: Jesus gave the ultimate gift of sacrifice when he died on the cross for us. His sacrifice was the ultimate aroma of fragrance to the Father. We can follow Jesus example of sacrificial love to the Father in the way that we live our lives for Him.
Daniel and his two friends were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow to the king. Their faith was devout to their heavenly father and they refused to bow to anyone, any circumstance or anything but Him.
But Daniel and his friends survived and came out of the fire, because God was WITH THEM in the midst of the fire!
They were not burned (not even a hair on their head), their clothes were not even singed!
They did not even smell like fire!
The king had the three men thrown into the fire, but while they were in there, he saw four men walking around!
God was WITH THEM IN THE FIRE.
“Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke!”
Daniel 3:26-27
It is so important to evaluate our hearts & ask ourselves if we carry the aroma of the trials & hardships we are walking through and have been through or do we carry the sweet fragrance of Jesus as we walk through the fire of trials and difficulties & the story it gives us to tell of all He has done for us?
“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty,you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”
Isaiah 43:1-2
May our every heartbeat be to bring glory to our King & may His presence in our lives refine us through our trials to be a sweet fragrant offering of His love to the world around us 🌿
Jenn Hoffman
