Isaiah 48:10 “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”
I recently saw a young girl get out of her car at the store. I noticed what she had put on her license plate. It said “I decide.” I thought about her as I watched her walk into the store and wondered what exactly she meant by that. I thought about going up to her and in the most gentlest and kindest way, ask her what exactly she feels she does get to decide. I wanted to ask her if she has a husband or children. Will she get to decide if she should lose her job because of the economy? Will she get to decide if her husband decides he doesn’t love her and wants to move on? With all the loved ones in her life, will she get to decide who will get sick, and if her child will die? Many of the things that happen to us in our lives happen outside of the decisions we make, and we are affected by the decisions made by people around us. We are also dealt incidents that have nothing to do with a choice anyone has made; it is just life happening.
What we do get to decide is what we do with the hand we are given. We also decide on what we believe about the trials we face throughout our life. I decide to believe James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Let’s face it, we did not decide to suffer this loss. We are in the furnace of affliction to mold us and shape us, to take out whatever holds us back from being all that He has intended for us. We decide how we will bear up under it and only in that do we decide.
Lord, we do not choose the trials we face, but we do choose how we will respond. Help us to make those choices that wrap us in Your grace.
