Pure as Gold

“My friends, be glad even if you had a lot of trouble
You know you learn to endure by having your faith tested
But you must learn to endure everything so that you will be
Completely mature and not lacking in anything”
-James 1:2-4, Contemporary English Version
Problems are a necessary part of life. They bring out our potentials. They are stepping stones unto greater heights in life. Someone might ask: “if God is a loving God, why does He allow us to go through tough situations?” Another person may ask: “since God is a good God why do His children suffer?”
The truth is that our problems remind us on our humanity. They keep us dependent on God. Absence of problems makes one attain an “all-sufficient” status – a point where one gets to and doesn’t need anything or anyone, not even God. You may say: “Fine, I know that God wants me to be dependent on Him, that’s why He permitted this, but this is too much for me. I can’t go through it”. Let me remind you that God loves you and won’t allow you go through anything that can break you. He knows you’ll come out of that fire as pure as gold that’s why He permitted it. Otherwise, this makes God an unloving and unfaithful God. Never forget, He made you, so He knows you even better than you know yourself (I Corinthians 10:13).
A string can’t produce sound until it is stretched; muscles don’t develop without exercise; gold can’t be purified without fire. The higher the intensity of fire, gold is passed through determines its lustre and beauty. We can only grow and become what God wants us to become when we’re able to come out trouble unscathed, stronger and better.