Trial by Fire

In his 1^st epistle Peter wrote, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).  The connection between fire and trials is also seen elsewhere in the scriptures.  Isaiah wrote, “And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross” (Isaiah 1:25).  Purging only comes through heat and fire, and God acts as our Refiner to purify us and rid us of our imperfections.  Later in Isaiah we read these words from the Lord, “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).  The prophet Zechariah also spoke about this idea: “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God” (Zechariah 13:9).  The Lord will have us to be refined as gold and silver in order to become His people.  Malachi also wrote about how the Lord will purify His people in the last days: “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver” (Malachi 3:3).  The Lord is “like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap” and will have a people who are sanctified before Him (D&C 128:24).  I wonder if all of these scriptures about the purification by fire that will come to us are related to the basic doctrine that we are “baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost” when we join the Savior’s cause (Moses 6:66).  Perhaps part of that fire spoken of is the purification relating to the Holy Ghost which comes through trials and tribulations in our lives.  Nobody wants them, but they are needed for all those who wish to be true disciples of the Savior.