Why Doesn’t God Just Polish My Rotten Apple? by ‘Brother Bill’
Trust develops in the fire — God joins us there, He does not always remove the fire:
The Bible shows that genuine trust (faith) in God is refined and strengthened through trials — the “fire” — rather than by avoiding them. God often allows His people to enter difficult circumstances, where their dependence on Him deepens. He meets them in the fire and delivers them through it. This builds mature, tested faith. (From previous response: See Daniel 3:16-18, Daniel 3:23-25, Daniel 3:26-28 (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego), Daniel 6:22-23 (Daniel in the lions’ den), and Isaiah 43:1-2.)
Additional supporting verses:
1 Peter 1:6-7 (NKJV)
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 66:10-12 (NKJV)
For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment.
Zechariah 13:9 (NKJV)
I will bring the one-third through the fire, Will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.”
These show the refining process happens in the fire, producing stronger trust and a closer walk with God. God Chastens and Scourges Those He Loves and Calls Sons
God disciplines His children out of love, just as a good father does. This chastening is part of the “fire” that trains and matures us, producing righteousness and deeper trust. It is evidence that we are legitimate sons and daughters.
Hebrews 12:5-11 (NKJV) (complete passage):
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
This directly ties into the “fire” theme: discipline is uncomfortable but essential for growth in trust and holiness.
Coming to God: By Reason, by Obedience (as Jesus), or by Faith Through Grace (as Paul) — But Requiring the Spirit and the Veil Removed by Christ. The Bible presents different aspects of approaching God:
•By reason: God invites us to reason with Him.
Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV)
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”5
•By obedience: John 7: 17 “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. Jesus is the perfect example of the way of obedience.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus lived in perfect obedience to the Father (John 5:19, 8:29, Philippians 2:8), modeling the path.
•By faith through grace: Paul emphasizes this as the means of salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are saved not by our works like other religions, but for God’s good works.
However, the natural human mind is veiled (blinded) to these truths until the Holy Spirit removes the veil through the grace of Christ’s sacrifice. We cannot truly reason rightly with God, obey as Jesus did, or exercise saving faith apart from the Spirit’s work. The veil is taken away in Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:14-18 (NKJV) (complete relevant passage):
But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Supporting truths:
•John 6:44 (NKJV): “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…”
•1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV): “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
Summary: Trust is forged in the fire of trials and God’s loving discipline (Hebrews 12). We are invited to reason with God, follow Jesus’ obedient way, and receive salvation by grace through faith — but all of this requires the Holy Spirit removing the veil through Christ’s finished work on the cross. This leads to liberty, transformation, and ever-deepening trust as we walk with Him through every furnace.
So, Man’s natural disposition is to be a captive slave to those who act like gods and only Jesus can free us. Let that sink in next time we wrestle against powers and principalities of darkness Ephesians 6:12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,fn against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Blessings on your great adventure with Christ Jesus.
Brother bill/dad
About the Author
Mychal Massie
Mychal S. Massie is an ordained minister who spent 13 years in full-time Christian Ministry. Today he serves as founder and Chairman of the Racial Policy Center (RPC), a think tank he officially founded in September 2015. RPC advocates for a colorblind society. He was founder and president of the non-profit “In His Name Ministries.” He is the former National Chairman of a conservative Capitol Hill think tank; and a former member of the think tank National Center for Public Policy Research. Read entire bio here
