Psalm 66

One of the hardest issues to deal with in the Christian life is being refined. None of us really enjoy a good trial or tribulation - especially while in the midst of it. Enjoying the refinement process is not the goal, but we often dislike it so much that we don't even want to experience any rough waters. We want a life without confrontation and struggle. The cool thing is that as Christians we will one day have this life in heaven. There will no longer be an internal conflict (as Vader would say) between our flesh and our spirit. But until then we must continue to be refined in our faith in Christ. Often the most spiritual growth comes from times of refinement. We also must realize that this is a part of the way God sanctifies us. We know that He will not give us more than we can handle (1 Cor. 10:13) and that it is for our good. I want to be able to thank God for His refining process as does the psalmist in vs. 10-12

"For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water, yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance."

I think its neat how the psalmist understand that it is God who has allowed them to go through each situation in mind. He understands that it is God who is in control of their lives including the "trials by fire." And even cooler is the fact that this brings about a sense of trust and dependency on God because He brought them out of hostility in to a place of abundance. God has a plan for our lives. Do you believe that? It's very easy to look at how God is working in the lives of others and miss what He is doing in yours. God does so many things in each of our lives that I think we constantly and consistently overlook. May God open our eyes to see and our ears to hear. He will bring us "out to a place of abundance" if we are faithful and persevere.
Ray