14 Bible Verses About Hardships and Trials, and What God Promises in Them



  • Refining separates the metal from what was mixed into it and adds nothing, which is a narrow promise.
  • Peter picks gold, the most durable substance his readers knew, and points out that it does not last either.
  • Paul calls his thorn a messenger of Satan, so he did not think every affliction came from God’s hand.
  • Romans 8:28 says God works in all things, which is not the sentence “all things are good”.
  • Job’s friends spend most of the book explaining his suffering and are told at the end that they had not spoken rightly.

The main image Scripture uses for a hard season is refining, and it promises less than it is usually made to promise. A crucible for silver, a furnace for gold, faith tested by fire. Refining separates the metal from what was mixed into it and adds nothing to it. Proverbs 17:3 keeps to that: the crucible and the furnace test, and the Lord tests the heart. Scripture also records suffering it declines to explain. Paul calls his own thorn a…

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