07/25/2026
How does hardship affect us, and specifically, how do we react to illness or calamity that threatens to end our lives? Do we remain steadfast in our faith, or do we give up on God and believe only in our own demise? Suffering, and facing imminent death, can lay waste to the importance of all the things of a life that once seemed so valuable to us, and it can whittle us down to just those few things and beliefs that are central to our core selves... so what is that for us? Have we taken the time to define them for ourselves? Do we really want to know before we actually face them?
“Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face."”
Job 2:4-5 ESV
In this story of Job, Satan was confident that Job would give up his faith if he suffered enough. Satan thought that in the end, when the pain and discomfort had reached its crescendo, his body was reduced to a mass of boils and putrid puss, and that all that he had acquired during his life was taken from him... he would abandon God. Yet Job held onto his faith, he refused to see his torment in the way that Satan expected him to, and even when those around him, including his wife, told him to curse God and die, he would not abandon it… why?
Why was it that Job would not release his grasp on the faith he had in God? How was he able to hold tight to it, even in the face of what his friends, and family, thought was overwhelming evidence that God had abandoned him? Don’t we find it interesting that the faith of those around Job was being shaken, shown to be weak, and easily discarded by the trials that they saw Job experiencing... was his situation so dire and repulsive that it caused them to suffer empathetically, or was it their own weak faiths? I mention this only to reveal the strength of this core belief that Job held so tightly too, and to demonstrate the faithful weakness of the world about him.
So back to my base question... do we even know what the attributes that make up our core beliefs are, or do we find them so precious to us that we will hold tight to them unto death? Let’s contemplate this today, and list in our minds those basic characteristics, or possessions that we hold and value deeply, then rate them in importance. What is the one thing that sits at the pinnacle of who we are? What is the one thing that we would hold onto at all cost? To a wealthy man it might be his money, and holdings, to a mother and father it might be the love for their family, to an adventurer it might be his independence... what is it about each of us that defines who we are, and can’t be released without destroying us?
Now with our list in hand, let’s run our finger down the items we have prioritized until you find our faith in God. How far from the top was it? Was it mentioned there at all? If we placed it at the top of our list, did we do so because it was truly most important, or simply because we knew it was the object of our exploration today? Did we place it number one because of our pride and the fear that someone might see our list and think less of us, or because it was our greatest belief and it was true? Let’s think about this, and search ourselves for the honest answer. If it was honestly the focus and most central characteristic of our life, then it should be unshakeable, and easily identified.
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
James 1:2-4 ESV
Some of us have faced this moment of ultimate reckoning; the time in life when the forge is running at its highest temperature and all the things that are not part of our pure selves are being burnt away. In this moment there is no lying to ourselves, and who we truly are is revealed for all to see. This is the moment of truth when we will find what life’s many trials has perfected in us. Will your trials have produced a steadfast faith and love for God and Jesus Christ in you?
Peter thought his faith in Jesus had been perfected. Remember these words?
“Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."”
John 13:37 ESV
But Jesus told him something that Peter would deny, even to himself...
“Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”
John 13:38 ESV
Peter was confident that he would not deny Jesus. He felt his love and belief in Him was strong enough to withstand the fire of the Satan’s forge, but when he was put to the test it was not.
“And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Luke 22:61-62 ESV
This is Peter, the man on whom Jesus said He would Build His Church. This is the man Jesus called a rock. So, what happened?
What happened to Peter is what Satan had predicted would happen to Job. He denied Jesus to save his own life. If this is true of Peter then who are we right now, and where on our list of core characteristics is our unyielding faith? This moment of failure was also a moment of epiphany for Peter, and changed who he was, forevermore... this was a visit to the forge that showed him where his faith really was at that moment, and revealed to him how far he needed to go to truly establish it. Peter did become the Rock, and the church of Jesus Christ was founded upon him, but before that could happen, he had to face the trials and grasp the truth about his faith... he had to enter the forge.
Perhaps it is true that our faiths are at the top of our list of core characteristics and beliefs, but just maybe, like Peter, this is only a hopeful claim. If so, then this is why we must visit the forge; this is why we find joy in hardship and suffering... they will reveal to us our true character, and the absolute order of our list. Are we brave enough to face the forge with our eyes open? Are we strong enough to accept what it will show us?
The true nature of Job was revealed, just as it was with Peter, one was found pure, and the other had a few more ounces of impurity removed. Where are we in our faith today, and do we look at the times we spend in the forge with dread, or see it as a tool used by God to reveal who we really are right now?
In truth, the time we spend in the forge allows us to see ourselves through the eyes of God, and gives us an opportunity to better ourselves in faith because of it. Are we really ready to see who we are? I pray we are.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for my faith, and I thank you for every trial and moment of suffering I undergo; as each one purifies my faith a bit more. I thank you Holy Father for revealing my true self to me, and for allowing me to come to you in contrition if I weep at what I find there. I know that you will forgive me Father, and will help me to increase my faith in you through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I know that I am like Peter, and that there are things in my walk with you that I feel confident in, yet which might still be lacking. Make me perfect Gracious Father, and never let me squint my eyes closed because I fear what I might see in myself. Give me courage to face the truth about who I am, give me the strength to fix what I find broken or lacking there, and give me the humility it takes to ask for your help, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. You are great in all your ways, and good, even in the calamity and suffering I undergo in my life. Shape me in the hard times Father, and make me a holy plate, and cup that can hold the bread and wine of Jesus as I sit on your table. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, who opens your eyes to me, and shows me the path to righteousness, and your Holiness. Praised be your name in the good and bad times of life, for you are my good teacher, and make me new in my righteousness… then give me a new name just as you did Peter.
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:18 ESV
Amen!
Rich Forbes