Through Fire and Flood

by Holly Swafford

Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.

Numbers 31:23

The contrast here is striking as we contemplate the sanctifying methods of fire and water that God used in the Old Testament days. Fire and water—two opposing forces of nature—yet working on one object that “may abide” or withstand the testing.

So does God still try His most valued objects—the objects of His love—we ourselves. He puts us through fire and water, not to see if we can withstand, for, as the Scripture above states, He knows all that before, and only puts us through what we can “abide.” Still, there are things in our hearts that He desires to be burned away through the fire and some washed away with water. That is why we must go through it.

It is like the blacksmith using the fire to heat a gnarled piece of metal. Once it is red hot from his fire, the impurities can be removed, and he can bend and shape it into whatever he desires. It cools and he sees some ashes leftover from the fire and he sticks it under cool running water to make the work perfect. God uses fire and water to perfect our hearts in order to make us useful for His work. Raw metal is good and all, but the blacksmith knows it must be tried before it can be useful for practical purposes. It is the same way with us. God knows we must be tried to be made useful for His purposes.

What is fire? It isn’t a pleasant experience in the middle of it. It may come as sudden bad news, the kind that turns your world upside down in a day. The kind of news Job got when he realized he was left with little to nothing. The fire had consumed his earthly glory, and he sat down in a heap of ashes to ask God why He had taken so much from him. Fire consumes quickly.

However, if we let it, the fire will also do something to our hearts. With the material things and attachments of life that go up in smoke, some of our selfishness, our will, and even wrong feelings vaporize in the fire as well. Godly carefulness will take their places and cause greater virtues to shine through the heart and soul.

You may wonder why God has allowed what you thought was beautiful to be turned to ashes, but maybe what you can’t see is that God is making something out of it that is more beautiful still. He knows that it takes the hottest fires to accomplish the greatest works of art. That is why we are advised by Peter to “think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice.” You can rejoice in the fire.

You may not feel like it, and you may not see Him in it. But God is with you there, casting and shaping something perfect. You’ll see.

This is not the only sanctifying element mentioned in our verse though. Water, on the other hand, does not affect us so suddenly as fire. With its gentle waves, the water washes the heart like the tide upon a rocky shore. The imperfections are smoothed out over time—over suffering, pain, and heartache even. These forms of water are not always gentle and painless as the tide, but they are chosen by God to be cleansing agents to our souls. As the waves beat upon our hearts, something miraculous is also taking place.

You may feel like you are struggling to keep your head above the water, like you will eventually drown in the crashing waves that overwhelm your aching heart. Water can feel fierce as fire in these moments. David cried to the Lord: “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.”

But however long and difficult the struggle, God’s deliverance is great. He doesn’t miss a moment and comes through right on time—in His time.

We find David singing: “He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters” (Psalm 18:16). The big hand of God reached down into the middle of a dark, stormy sea and scooped the struggling psalmist out of his trouble. And God will reach to wherever you are at and pull you out of the water as well. He won’t let you drown.

Fire and flood have their purposes in the plan of God, but Child, so does deliverance. So does beauty after ashes. So does the calm after the storm. God’s ways may not always look like ours, but they always turn out better. He knows that water washes us from the filth of the flesh. He knows that your faith must be tried by fire to become rock solid faith. 

And so He takes that precious thing to show you that He is still the Faithful God through fire and flood. He’s with you through it all. Like He was the Fourth Man in the furnace with the Hebrew boys. Like He was inside the whale in the bottom of the sea with Jonah. Like He was with Job and David. He’s in the fire and the water.

“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isaiah 43:2).

When you feel like it is more than you can stand, remember that the Father knows why. And He knows that you can abide until His sweet deliverance comes.