"Alvin Barnes of Jackson Mississippi" When It’s Your Turn to Be Tested

By Alvin Barnes of Jackson, Mississippi

You think you’re smarter than most, until life humbles you. Until it’s your turn to sit in the fire.

It’s easy to feel like you’ve got it figured out when things are going smoothly. When your plans are lining up, when your name is being praised, when the storms are hitting someone else’s house. But life has a way of changing and eventually, it’s your turn.

Your turn to lose what you thought you’d always have. Your turn to feel like your prayers are hitting the ceiling. Your turn to wonder, Why me? And in that moment you learn humility. Not because someone preached it to you, but because life teaches it directly.

“Gold, though perishable, is tested by fire so is our faith.”1 Peter 1:7 (Catholic Standard Version)

That verse hits differently when you’re in the fire. When the faith you talked about is now the only thing holding you together. When the wisdom you used to throw around like currency suddenly feels small in the face of real pain. But here’s what I’ve learned through every humbling moment: God’s not trying to destroy you in the fire He’s refining you. The ego burns off. Pride melts away. The illusions fall. And what’s left is something more real. More grounded. More resilient.

The gold is still there but it shines brighter after the heat.

So if life has you in the fire right now don’t panic. Don’t curse it. Let it work. Let it teach. Let it purify. Because the test isn’t proof that you’re failing. It’s proof that you’re being refined. And when it’s your turn, that’s when your faith goes from something you recite to something you rely on. Humility doesn’t make you weaker. It makes you real. And fire doesn’t ruin the gold. It reveals it.

Peace and love

Alvin Barnes of Jackson, Mississippi

"Alvin Barnes of Jackson Mississippi"

Alvin Barnes Jackson, Mississippi, a passionate former political leader, now leverages his skills as an accountant/paralegal & project manager to empower small businesses and law firms.