Testing for Gold

When I came to prayer this morning I found myself pouring out to God all the things that have felt overwhelming lately – so many difficult and painful things that have been happening, both to me and to those I care about. As always He listened, and loved, and gave counsel – He is so faithful and good! And then He reminded me of a picture He had given me almost a month ago, of a person having a deep work done in their hearts (picture here). I do believe we’re in a season of deep work that He’s doing in each of our hearts, and that definitely includes me.

And He took me to the well-known verses in Ps 139:23-34…
God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart.
Examine me through and through;
find out everything that may be hidden within me.
Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.
See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on,
and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways—
the path that brings me back to you. (TPT)

I felt His invitation to make that my prayer, and gladly did – and then I felt Him prompt me to dig a little deeper, so I turned to the King James Version, and Strong’s Concordance, and what jumped out at me was the word ‘try’ from v 23, as in “try me, and know my thoughts“. It’s the Hebrew word bachan, which means to examine test, try, investigate, and prove. It instantly reminded me of the storm-test in Mk 6:45-53, that I wrote about last week in Know your Storm, so I knew this was part of the continuing theme that God has been speaking lately: how we respond to trials etc.
And as I continued reading my eyes stopped on the next meaning of bachan. It can also mean to test, as one tests metal such as gold. It’s a familiar theme from the Bible, eg 1 Pet 1:6-7…
“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold” (TLB)

I realised I knew very little about how gold is tested, other than knowing it is purified & refined by fire – and I felt a repeated invitation to dig deeper. A quick search online revealed first of all that in metal testing there are two groups of tests that can be applied to identify them – destructive and non-destructive (the enemy may seek to destroy us entirely, but praise God, He only permits tests that destroy sin but save our souls!)
Then I discovered five basic tests that can be applied to gold, and as I read, God spoke clearly to me about how He tests for the gold of faith in our hearts. This is what I learned:

1/ Gold is very dense. Measuring it and weighing it will reveal gold as weightier than most other metals.
*How weighty is our faith? When we are tested, does our faith anchor us and prove to be solid and enduring, or is it light and wavering, easily overcome?

2/ Gold is not magnetic. If a strong magnet can pick it up, it is not pure gold but has been mixed with other metals.
*Are we set apart & holy for God? Tests can reveal if He alone has our heart or if we have allowed our faith to be mixed with/ compromised by the cares of the world and/ or opinions of others.

3/ Gold produces a long, high-pitched ringing sound when struck. More base metals sound dull and shorter.
*When we are struck with a test, what sound do we make? A dull moan of bitter complaint, or does our faith ring out in praise of our Lord?

4/ Gold leaves a gold mark on a ceramic plate when dragged across it. Fake gold leaves a black mark.
*The tests we go through often leave a mark on those we come into contact with – does what they see in us glorify God or is it polluted with sin?

5/ Gold resists oxidation and corrosion. If it reacts to (nitric) acid, it is not gold. There are different strengths of acid for different carats of gold – the most pure that doesn’t react at all being 24carat.
*How pure is our faith? There are different levels of test that reveal the purity of our faith – the more we endure, and the more we allow ourselves to be refined, the more pure we will become.

As God showed me these worldly tests and their spiritual applications I felt He was asking us to partner with Him in inspecting our own hearts. These tests are not easy – they take humility and open-ness to God convicting us where we fall short (not an easy attitude to have). But praise God we know He is not seeking to condemn us for failing – only to refine us and make us more like Jesus. They may not be comfortable to go through, but if we will open our hearts before God and submit to His testing, He has promised He will refine us as pure gold. He is committed to doing a deep work in us and will not leave us unfinished. As Phil 1:6 says,
“I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return]“

So I hope and pray that if you have been experiencing a testing season lately, and have felt your heart being exposed and worked over, that you would take courage from knowing that God is right there with you in it, refining you and forming Jesus within you, for His glory. Because when God tests for gold, He doesn’t give up until He has it.