We go to Mass, we go to confession frequently but we are not quite perfect are we? We are inherently human. We slip, we fall, we make mistakes. We often face trials in our lives. Some shake us to our core. Some, though they may not seem so at the time, effect a course alteration in our lives which ultimately benefit us. You have heard “it’s what is inside that counts”, right? Well, read on.
Gold From Coal
Near Cripple Creek, Colorado, gold and tellurium are mixed to become tellurite ore. Refining methods of the early mining camps could not separate the two elements, so the ore was thrown into a scrap heap.
One day a miner mistook a lump of ore for coal and tossed it into his stove. Later, while removing ashes from the stove, he found the bottom littered with beads of pure gold. The heat has burned away the tellurium, leaving the gold in a purified state. The discarded ore was reworked and yielded a fortune.
People are like tellurite ore. We have gold inside us but it often takes a trial in the fiery furnace of life to transform us.
Trial and Error
Perhaps this section should be called “error and trial”. Our trials in life come at us usually as the byproduct of own weaknesses. We make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes lead to our trials in life. We may gossip falsely about someone and they find out, leading to public embarrassment for us. We may lose our temper while working on a project or while in the middle of a contentious meeting. This is a big mistake which usually means we become the proverbial target of our peers.
Yes, we are human which means we make mistakes. It’s part of the result of original sin. We are not perfect but not everyone accepts this as an excuse for our reactions and behavior. Suffice it to say, there are always people lurking around waiting for us to slip up to take advantage of our mistakes for their own benefit. From office politics to real world politics it’s hard to escape the trials of humanity. These ordinary, everyday trials pale in comparison to real persecution.
Trial For Truth
Sometimes our trials come about as a result of standing steadfastly for the truth. We see example after example of this in the Bible. For example in the Old Testament book of Daniel, Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship idols of their time. Daniels friends were thrown into a furnace and Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den when they refused to worship pagan idols. All of them escaped their trials unharmed.
Many modern day Christians face persecutions due to their faith. Sometimes, ISIS will even kill Christians for their faith. These contemporary martyrs endure the ultimate trial and pay the ultimate price by accepting death rather than renouncing their faith. This in itself is not new. Dating back to the early church, Christians have been persecuted for their beliefs. Many have been martyred for those beliefs. They paid the ultimate price for truth.
The conflict between good and evil is timeless and every Christian faces some level of trials. We may not necessarily face the martyr’s physical death but we may face spiritual persecution. This can come from snide comments about our faith or contentious debate with a believer from a Christian denomination which is unfriendly to Catholics. No matter where they come from, theses trials are real and particularly painful for those on the receiving end.
What Do These Trials Mean?
Trials simply refine us. Much like the ore in the furnace which when burnt away leaves gold dust behind, we are the same. We have gold within us. Sometimes our rough exteriors need to be “burnt away” to reveal the gold within. These are what trials are for. They purify us and if we focus on our faith during our trials, the gold, the good within us will bubble to the surface.
The uncanny thing is this. Without the trials of life, this gold we are talking about will remain hidden. We will have no reason to tap into the inner good buried within each of us. This inner good would remain buried and we may not even know it exists within each of us if we had no reason to discover it.
Many foolishly try to avoid the trials of life. However, we have the means to overcome any trial which comes our way because Jesus is with us through all of our trials. He is there to lean on and to help us through. He understands the pain and anguish accompanying trials. We can use these circumstances in life to build up our faith, be a witness to others, and spread the Good News through that witness. We may not consider all of these things while we are “put to the test” but once we examine the situation after it has passed, we will realize the good it has done.
Trail by fire leads to a heavenly reward. Embrace your trials, don’t run from them. Your eternal life may depend on it.
