Into Your hand I commit my spirit;

Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. (Psalm 31:5) 

There are times and there are seasons, and a person also lives in times and seasons. But how is this reflected in the person? In the same way as a sower who works on the field, a person should know the time to sow and the season for sowing, the time of ripening and the season for harvest. The seasons should not be confused or the correct time missed, otherwise there will not be a harvest.

For those who love the Lord and are deeply devoted to Him there is a time when this devotion and love is manifested by work in His name and in keeping the commandments. One could say it is a life filled with the worship of God in love for Him, in works of faith. Then suddenly, unexpectedly there comes a time when a person finds himself in such circumstances that, seemingly, should have in no way befallen him. Circumstances literally fall down on the righteous, like a natural disaster, and enclose him in a ring of fire. This trial is written very vividly in Job, but Peter writes: Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:12-13). Peter warns those who are participating in the sufferings of Christ that it may seem strange for a fiery trial to befall the person who is sincerely devoted to God. at this time, the person himself cannot do anything, or change anything, or correct anything, but all he can do is pray, believe in God’s love and omnipotence, just trust and wait for God to bring him out of these circumstances. Could this fiery trial be a punishment for mistakes made while serving God? This is the first question that can come to mind.

The person who testifies of the love of God with his life, who is devoted to Him and righteous, is always led by God to the “place of trust.” It is this place of trust that Peter called the fiery trial, which should not be considered as something strange that happens to the person. Indeed, what happens will be so unexpected and strange for the person, and even perhaps for those around him, that it will be difficult to recognize God Himself and His providence in it. In this moment it always seems that God has forsaken the person. How else could it be explained? This cannot happen to a believer living righteously; one would have to be a terrible sinner for this to happen; or, perhaps, there is some secret sin? This is the reasoning of the friends of Job after they witnessed what had happened to him. Many deemed that Jesus, too, was being punished and numbered with the transgressors: Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5).

Therefore, although it seems to be a punishment from God, it is actually far from it. In the place of trust, the person himself can neither do nor change anything. He simply receives abuse, reproaches and insinuations that he has fallen, that it is a punishment from God, that it is a deserved penalty. At the same time, he should simply rely on God, on His justification, on His help and salvation. Could Job, by his own means, recover from leprosy and restore all that he had lost? Could Daniel get himself out of the lion’s den? Could Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego have kept themselves alive in the fiery furnace and come out without even being singed? In a place of trust in God, no one can change anything, and the person will not be able to come out of those circumstances by themselves either. Fire tests faith in God and devotion in love. Those who truly love God and those who God brings closer to Himself, always experience a period in life when they find themselves in a fiery trial, in a place of trust, when they can do nothing to help themselves and they can only wait: beyond faith, believing; hope against hope; and beyond expectation.

It is not known precisely how long Job waited for God until He spoke to him and brought him out of the fiery trial, but it is clear that it was a long time. And the young men spent some time in the red-hot furnace – it was not a moment. Daniel spent all night in the den of lions. Joseph spent a portion of his life in prison, from which only God could set him free. And Jonah stayed in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights and nothing depended on him at that time. All that was left for him was the hope that God would not leave him there, and the faith that God was strong enough to get him out.

How wisely it is said that in fiery trials one should not say “what for?”, but one must say “for what reason?” For what reason am I in the belly of a whale? For what reason am I in a den with lions? For what reason am I in a fiery furnace? Jonah was in the whale's belly in order to be made ready to speak out the sermon which would cause all of Nineveh to repent. At this time, he was not punished so much as crushed and changed in order to become a voice to call to repentance for the Ninevites. Only one who has experienced the horror of hell can convey the fear of its reality and lead a whole corrupted city to repentance.

The fiery trial, or the place of trust in God, to which a person is brought by God through circumstances, seems more than strange to us. However, this is a place where we truly get to know God, a place where our prayer becomes alive, and God is real. From this place, having gone through the trials, our faith is affirmed in us and also on us as a title: Believer! Meaning: friend of God. From this place there is only one way out - this is into the glory of God.

Every person who has gone through this place of fiery trials exits it into the glory of God.

Jonah entered the glory of God so much that through his sermon the king of Nineveh dressed in sackcloth and sat in ashes: And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. (Jonah 3:4-6).

Job came out justified in the glory of God so much that his condemning friends needed his intercessory prayer before God, and all his wealth was restored abundantly.

Daniel came out of his fiery trial in the glory of God. The lion’s den was for him a meeting with the living and Almighty God. There he recognized in action the One whom He served and believed. And God glorified him so much that, according to his faith, the king recognized God to be the Lord of all: Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.(Daniel 6:25-28)

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego came out of the fiery furnace in glory. Their faith and hope were justified so much that Nebuchadnezzar blessed God: Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counsellors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”  “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”...... Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon. (Daniel 3:24–25, 28-30).

The place of fiery trial is the same place where we receive a justification for our hope, our faith, our love and devotion, we get justification for our righteousness. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30). The one that God foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son is the one that He has called and justified, and moreover, glorified. Job received justification for his righteousness. Since Satan slanders all who are chosen by God, he slandered Job as one who was bribed with blessings: So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. (Job 1:9-10) The slander of Satan continues to stand before the Lord day and night: "... Does Job fear God for nothing? ...", that is why we need justification.

God justifies our faith in this particular place of trusting, which seems to us, at times, to be unbearable suffering. But this fiery trial purifies gold so that it can receive the hallmark of the highest quality. The mere fact that you are in a place of faith and trusting, in the fire of temptation, should testify to you that God draws you closer to Himself, that in His eyes you are gold and therefore you are being tested by fire. That is why Peter says: ...Rejoice... in fiery trials, and James says even better: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,... (James 1:2) 

When counting it all joy, one should not rejoice in the trial itself, but in what follows it. God did not leave anyone alone in the fiery trial. Even when the one going through the trial could not see Him, others could see. For example, in the fiery furnace Nebuchadnezzar saw an Angel walking with the young men sent into the furnace. Daniel testified that the Angel spent the whole night with him in the den of lions. I believe that the Angel of God also passed through the place of trials with Job, with Jonah and with the rest. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Those who hope in the Lord will not be put to shame; they will spread their wings like eagles in the hour of the justification of their hope and glory. But in the time of hope, one needs only to believe and trust the love of God. This is all that is possible to do in this period of time, only by praying and worshipping God, to expect with hope. And strange as it may seem, that which is of greater value than all works a perfected man can do in the name of God, is such faith, such hope and complete trust, when a person actually does nothing but only believes.

            This is stated in the Revelation of John in the message to the church of Philadelphia: I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. (Revelation 3:8). The Lord knows the works, but when one had no power, did not deny the name and kept the word, it is credited as righteousness and rewarded. And to the church at Ephesus it is written: ...and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. (Revelation 2:3). It is valued when one has persevered with patience, it is during this very time of trust when one is persevering with patience and expectation, and at the same time worked in the name of God.

But it is patience that is put in the first place, that means that how a person lives through this time of fiery trials will be noted in a special way. It would seem that one is not doing anything for the glory of God at this time, just suffering and praying, trying to hold onto the word of God and trusting in Him. One just sits in a den, side by side with hungry lions, and the top of the den is covered over so that the sky cannot be seen, as if pressed down by circumstances, and the whole world is against you. All of Babylon watched Daniel then, to see if the lions will eat him or not. All of Babylon watched Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego to see if they would burn in the furnace or not. And they just went into the fire and walked through the furnace, glorifying God. In fact, the greatest ministry to God is the ministry of faithfulness.

The only thing a person can do to truly glorify God is to glorify Him in such fiery trials. This is because it is precisely at that moment when we are in fiery trials that all of Babylon is watching us; meaning that the kingdom of darkness and all of hell awaits our betrayal and denial of God. When you are in a den with lions and the exit is blocked with a stone, and there is no exit from there, glorify the almightiness of God, and He will send His Angel and shut the lions’ mouths. When you are in a fiery furnace, and everything is crackling around and there is no way out, just pray and glorify God, He Himself will tame the flames of fire and lead you out without being burnt. This is the greatest ministry and glorification of God, of which only man is capable. It could be that all your other works that were done in the glory of God, will not glorify Him as much as that prayer of faith and worship, which is proclaimed in the fiery furnace, in the lion’s den, at a place of exile in a rubbish dump, where Job sat covered in boils and glorified God.

Everything that we accomplish by the power of God's Spirit is His glory, therefore God says that He will not give His glory to anyone. But for the fact that a person by faith passed the time of fiery trials and gave God praise, that person is glorified in Heaven - this is the glory of man in the spiritual world, therefore the Lord says through Peter that those whom He has chosen He will justify and glorify. He does not say that the glory of God will be on them, but He says that He will glorify them. He does not even say that they will glorify God, although this is so, but God will glorify Himself through them. Jesus prayed about it, even for our sake, to leave us with such an understanding: I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. (John 17:4-5). He speaks with the distinction that He glorified God by doing His works, and now the time comes when God will glorify Him for patience and obedience after He has passed through the fiery baptism, that is, passes along the path of complete trust in God from Gethsemane to the cross at Golgotha. It would be desirable for all of us to realize that the fiery trials, which look frightening, are not a punishment, but, on the contrary, are the way to glory. The one that God foreknew, He predestined to be justified and glorified. Therefore, at our worst hour, when it seems that there is no deliverance, may we be able to say with David: Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. (Psalm 31:5) and with Jesus: ...Father! ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ”(Lk.23: 46).

My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation. Set thy heart aright, and constantly endure, and make not haste in time of trouble. Cleave unto him, and depart not away, that thou mayest be increased at thy last end. Whatsoever is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to a low estate. For gold is tried in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. Believe in him, and he will help thee; order thy way aright, and trust in him. Ye that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy; and go not aside, lest ye fall. (Ben Sira 2:1-7 - Taken from New King James Version of Apocrypha Bible https://www.biblestudytools.com/kjva/ben-sira).

Pastor Taysa Kotov

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