Tempered for the Test

 I tend to be a bit rushed sometimes when following a recipe. "Sift the flour"? No, it’ll be fine. "Mix the dry ingredients first"? I’ve skipped that step a few times. But there are some steps that should not be skipped. One of these is "temper," the process of adding small amounts of very hot liquid to eggs or cream to carefully bring them up to temperature. Otherwise, you might possibly have scrambled eggs or curdled cream in your mixture. Did you know that God  tempers us for the test? No doubt, when there’s a severe trial coming our way, God knows we need "tempered." So, He allows a few smaller trials to come our way first.
 
First Corinthians 12:25 talks about God tempering the body of Christ. In other words, He prepares us ahead of time. Wherever there’s a lack or a weakness, a place that might bring about a spiritual fall, God sends along a little fire to strengthen us. Many hard trials have come in my life, and I can look back and see how God tempered me (or prepared me ahead of time). He knew I could not handle that severe heat without a few small trials to temper me for that test. God is faithful!