February 6

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. — 2 Cor 4:9 BSB

You may be weighed down by doubts and fears, and feel like you’ve lost the sense of the Lord’s love for your soul, but you can’t lose the reality of it, and your faith won’t be destroyed by even the hottest trials. Faith is like gold—the fire melts away the impurities, but it never damages the gold itself. Even in your hardest trials, your faith remains whole. Your hope, too, will not be destroyed, no matter how cast down you may feel about your spiritual state. Not a single part of your hope or any Christian grace will be lost. They may appear to diminish, as the apostle says, “If a man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss” (1 Cor. 3:15), but this is not a real loss—only the removal of impurities, making you a vessel for the Refiner.

The work of the Holy Spirit is as indestructible as the work of Christ, so every grace He implants in the soul stays there, untouched and unharmed in all its divine integrity. Love, patience, submission, and humility remain unscathed in the fire, though the impurities mixed with them are taken away so that they may shine brighter. So, even though you may be plunged into the hottest flames, you won’t be destroyed—just as the three Hebrew children were not destroyed in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, nor Jonah in the belly of the whale.