More precious than gold

God never wastes anything that happens to us. Scripture says that if we suffer with Him we will reign with Him. Jesus suffered on the cross knowing there was joy ahead of Him - the joy of leading many captives of sin to freedom and taking them as gifts to His Father.

When we look around the world we see much suffering and persecution, especially in countries where people are trying to stamp out Christianity. Dear brothers and sisters, who love the Lord, cling to Him with all your strength for He’s holding on to you. He will never, ever let you go.

Maybe He’s saying to you: ‘I am with you in your suffering. I’m bringing forth precious gold in your lives. You may be poor, yet you’re rich in faith. You may be old, but you’re young in spirit. You may be broken, but you will see my glory coming upon you. You may be full of sorrow, but my deep joy is yours. You may be alone, but my presence surrounds you. My love will sustain you and my power will enable you to bear the impossible, for my Spirit is in you, your Comforter.’

It’s said that when we go through trials, then God is ‘panning for gold’ in us. He’s looking for little nuggets of faith deep in our hearts. We can see through some of the testimonies of those who have come through those sufferings, the beautiful evidence of what God has done in their lives, shining on their faces.

You can see strength of faith, humility of spirit and amazing forgiveness. In fact, the glory of the Lord seems to cover them. Just as you see a silver blanket wrapped around the runners when they reach the finishing line of a marathon race, it’s as if the Lord wraps His golden cloak around those who have come through suffering. We don’t run this race in vain.

Every trial and temptation is known to him. Sometimes we can look back and see that the black threads in the ‘Tapestry of Life’ are needed as much as the coloured and the gold ones, to make His picture of our lives complete. So hang on – for Jesus our High Priest, is able to save us to the uttermost because He lives forever to intercede for us.

Prayer: Lord, strengthen and comfort all those who are being persecuted or are in prison for their faith. May they know Your tangible presence and see Your glory. Amen