We Will Not Fade

From: Every Day Light - Selwyn Hughes

1 Peter 4:12 "Do not be surprised, beloved, that a trial by fire is occurring in your midst. It is a test for you, but it should not catch you off guard."

God seldom uses anyone unless He puts that person through the test of suffering and adversity. Jesus, you remember, began His ministry in the wilderness of temptation, but it culminated in a garden in Jerusalem on Easter morning.

Our lesser ministries, too, need the test of suffering. An ancient proverb says: "He who is born in the fire will not fade in the sun." If God lets us suffer in the fire of adversity, depend on it - He is only making sure that we will not fade in the sun of smaller difficulties.

Make no mistake about it - the world is watching how we Christians react to suffering. What do they see? People who struggle on in continual weakness, or people who have been made "strong at the broken places"?