For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined. You brought us into prison. You laid a burden on our backs. You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you brought us to the place of abundance. – Psalms 66:10-12
When you’re walking with God, the destination is ALWAYS worth whatever hardship you have to walk through to get there. What I’ve discovered though, is that in order for me to receive ALL that God wants to give me, He has to expand me, mold me, and strengthen me. Otherwise I don’t have the capacity to take what He wants to pour out on my life.
The process by which God works in us so that He can give us more is called REFINING. Precious metals are refined in the fire, so that the impurities are separated from them. Then they emerge sparkling!
In this passage we see the process of testing and refining that God does in us in order to bring us ‘to the place of abundance’.
You brought us into prison – one of the ways that we’re tested is that we’re kept in a place or situation that we find really hard to stay in. In this place we have to make a choice to either be overcome or to overcome. Just like Joseph – he could have wallowed in bitterness in the prison that he found himself in. But instead he got his gift active, and he made the most of the situation. He overcame – and he passed his time of testing. The prison prepared him for the palace.
You laid a burden on our backs – recently I finished reading Bear Grylls’ book ‘Mud, Sweat And Tears’. He gives an account of the SAS training he went through – where they were regularly tested with carrying immensely heavy loads while running across desolate country and having to reach a destination in a certain time. The loads we carry can be responsibilities and roles, they can be health issues or financial crises, they can be relationships and people connections. But a burden is not just an everyday load – it’s when it’s really loaded up. Again, God allows this so that we can TAKE MORE. I’ve watched over years as those that God is preparing for leadership have been given what seemed like impossible burdens to carry – and yet not only have they carried them, but they’ve prospered while carrying them. They’ve kept great faith and attitude.
You allowed men to ride over our heads – another way that God expands and grows us is to put is the place where we are mistreated by those around us. Sometimes there’s genuine reasons – we may be a bit arrogant or don’t know how to say no. But sometimes, we find ourselves persecuted without reason. How we respond in these situations is also part of a test.
We went through fire and water – situations that burnt us, and places where we literally thought we were going to drown.
All of these are preparation. None of us enjoy them – but they get us ready for the place of abundance. One of the things that will keep you going through a time of trial is to know that it is actually all for a reason. The things we walk through can seem at times unbelievably harsh and incredibly unfair, but if we can rise up above them – then we find the way through to the place of abundance. And what we discover in that place is that we now possess the ability to hold on and remain in the place of abundance, because we have been expanded and grown in the place of testing.