Reading Plan:
1 Peter 4:12-19


Refined by Fire
Author: Nikki Payton


Peter writes today's letter to Christians who, like him, are living under Nero's constant threat of persecution and death. His perspective has been transformed; he denied Jesus, and he experienced suffering and separation from his core spiritual family. Peter is refined by fire, but he is not left in the devastation of his ashes. Rather, God allows him to feel the intense heat of fear, persecution, and failure – not to punish him, but to refine him.

Walk with me through this analogy: A refinery uses fire to convert raw materials such as oil and alloy into fuel and precious metals like silver and gold. The refining process involves first melting products down with extreme heat to their liquid state. The impurities that float to the surface are extracted and then supercooled to return to their purest, most natural form. In this case, God uses the "heat" from Peter's suffering to bring to the surface his impurities – anger, fear, pride, and impulsivity. The result produces a new Peter, fully empowered to advance God's kingdom agenda. Sometimes there must be a total breakdown before there can be a breakthrough. So, what does this new Peter look like?

“Refined-by-fire” Peter is emboldened to preach the next day after denying Jesus. He is arrested and beaten. What was his response? Acts 5:41 says, "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name." They rejoiced in the face of persecution because they understood that in God's economy, suffering equals blessing. They didn't come to faith in Jesus Christ for what they could get, but for what they could give – even their very lives. Peter, in new confidence, then plants numerous house churches and nourishes these congregations with encouraging letters like this one.

Peter provides a template for believers, which is still relevant to us today. With the following "do not" statements, he shows us how even in the middle of the flames of suffering, we can be refined by fire.

“Do not be surprised.” While God is not the source of our suffering, He does use our temporary pain to teach obedience and guide us to a precious space of surrender, all the while bringing Him glory. Suffering should not surprise us; it should refine us. Our attitudes in times of testing determine the fruit of a trial (1 Peter 4:12-14). He tells his readers to rejoice in their suffering. He explains that our joy comes when God's glory is revealed. We will then be safely identified as Jesus' followers, and nothing will be able to harm us again. The reward comes later.

“Do not be ashamed.” Here, Peter is speaking from personal experience. He remembers when he felt ashamed to be identified as a Jesus-follower for fear of his own suffering and death. He pleads with us to sit with this truth: no amount of temporary suffering on this side of living compares with the eternal joy that awaits on the other side of living (1 Peter 4:15-18). This is not our home.

“Do not be derailed.” It is so easy to stay on track when all is going our way, but the moment something is thrown on our path that interrupts and disrupts our forward movement, the fallout can be catastrophic. Those are opportunities when we can dig our feet in, lean further into God, and trust Him with our doubts and challenging "why" questions. God can handle both (1 Peter 4:19).

Like Peter, we cannot afford to allow intimidation to prevent us from completing our God-given assignment. In the words of Corrie Ten Boom, "The safest place we will ever be is in the center of God's will."

Reflection:

• What is your typical response to seasons of suffering? If you are experiencing a time of testing of your faith, invite God to refine you through it, and use it to advance the Kingdom.
• When tested by fire, what impurities float to the surface that the Holy Spirit needs to extract: fear, anger, unbelief, mistrust?
  Are there any spaces in your daily experience where you are ashamed of your faith: family, work, friendships? Be bold, and pray a dangerous prayer for God to break you so that He can rebuild you.
• Peter uses the art of letter-writing to encourage his brothers and sisters to greater faith and courage. Write a letter this week to a fellow believer, and encourage them with God's truth.
• Prayer: Father, thank You for holding us close during times of suffering. While we may not completely understand, we completely trust that You have our eternal good in mind. Your grace is enough. Empower us through Your Spirit to stay faithful to You in times of testing and maintain a joyful attitude as we keep our eyes on You. In Jesus' name, amen.

Family Application: No matter what I can follow God.  

Author: Cooper Herrington

• In today's Bible reading, Peter is writing to a group of Christians who are in danger because of their faith. That is important because Peter is telling them not to be surprised, not to be ashamed, and not to be distracted. Peter tells the early church to keep loving God and following Him no matter what happens.   
• Most of us will never be in the same kind of danger as the Christians who Peter first wrote, but we still have days that are not great. Have you ever had a bad day? You woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and your favorite show would not download. What if you didn’t make the grade you wanted on a test? What if your best friend moved to a new far away city? Those can be hard things. When something uncomfortable happens in your life, pray and read your Bible.  
• When you have a bad day, write about what happened and have a conversation with God about it. God loves being with you and having conversations with you. When you have a really good day, you can do the same thing. Tell God how great your day has been and tell Him "thank you" for the good day. In both the easy days and hard days, we can spend time with God.                
• Prayer: God, You are God and God alone! Thank You for giving me life! God, help me to come to You on the good days and the bad days. Amen.