Today we begin worship with:
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
This summer the fridge went out, when we had a house full of people, the stove stopped working in the strangest way, and the boat decided when it would start and when it would not.
Those were not "fiery trials". A fiery trial (pyrōsis) comes when you are "insulted for the name of Christ". It is the refiner's fire.
There is a curious verse in Proverbs that illustrates this:
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,and a man is tested by his praise.
One is refined by who and what one praises.
When you praise a Ford, when you are with a group of Mopar buddies; when you are the only one rooting for the Yankees at a Braves watch-party; when stand up of the name of Christ when it is taken in vain. You will be tested. That lick of flame will refine you.
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