I want to share something from my journal this morning. God is in control of all things in our lives. The trials that He allows are His purpose, His will, His excellent counsel for us. There are three metaphors I want to use: pruning, fire, light. Severe pruning yields abounding fruit. Trials purify the genuine metal of our faith. Light exposes all darkness. Consider these verses:

John 15:2 says, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” 1 Peter 1:7 says, “That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” John 3:21 says, “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” Be pruned, being tested by fire, and walking in the light are all part of abiding in Him.

1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Paul says it another way in 2 Timothy 2:20-21. “But in a great house there are not only vessel of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”

Pruning, fire, light are the Supreme Ruler’s tools of preparation. It is all part of our being set apart for God (sanctification). He has a plan. Nothing can thwart His purpose. When we resist His work, He prunes back the saplings of our own strength, the fire reveals more dross, and He brings circumstances that illuminate the darkness we are seemingly unaware of. His desire is that we will become more like Him. He was yielded to the Father in all things.