The Furnace

The Lord is always upfront and honest with His children.

He doesn't tell us we may have trials - He says you will have trials.  Trials that hurt both physically and mentally but are(somehow) for our good and His glory.  Most of the time we haven't a clue what the Lord is doing with us. We'd rather not go through pain and trials; they hurt.  A lot.  They disrupt and can permanently change our lives.  With changes we'd rather not make, thank you.

He calls us to trust Him. Complete trust.  I remind myself He is God, the Creator of the Universe and I'm a formed pile of dust.  But a pile of dust He loved/loves so much He sacrificed His Son for me.  And so I trust Him from within the trials He sends.  And wait for His revealing the reason to me, whether on earth or in heaven.

  Affliction
C.A. Van Til

angry snap-crackle
fire howls red fury
charred ash, remains shift.

flames skip-dance across
years, burning destruction,
hollow memories, pain.

children held in the palm of His hand.

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
             Isaiah 48:10