Refined by testing - Zechariah 13:19 & Isaiah 48:10

I've been away on holiday for a couple of weeks and while I was away I took part in a Bible study with the friends we were staying with. They're working through a book on living the Christian life, and in one of the studies we were looking at God's testing of us.


The study wasn't on a particular passage, but used several verses in the discussions. There were two verses I particularly picked up on for my journalling.

See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

 - Isaiah 48:10

This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

 - Zechariah 13:9

The image that came to mind during the study was of a figure going through the fire and emerging shiny and golden. The picture is all watercolours with white and gold gel pens. The black is dark in the background, but as you can see in the picture, the text is all still visible. I don't like doing anything that covers the text too much - I feel that would be like saying that my thoughts on *this* passage are more important than being able to read *that* passage later.

The study questions were quite interesting and personal at times. I'm not going to share my answers, but I will share the questions that made me think most. One was 'how can you tell the difference between testing and discipline?' and another was 'when was the last time God tested/disciplined you, and what was your response?'

Some of the more general discussion points were around the results of testing and disciplining, which should be the same - a character more fixed on God's will for us.

Another interesting point was that we should expect to be tested regularly. When we went around the group we'd all felt tested within the last few days. It was an interesting discovery, because it's not something I think about much.