Dear Reader,
When a metal worker wants to mold blunt metal, he doesn’t try to force is with his bare hands. He submerges a section of the metal in a hot flame until it weakens. He then begins to form it into a shape, like a blade or horseshoe. Once the metal is cooled, it’s stronger and purer than before. He repeats the process until the metal is the exact shape he wants. The refiner’s fire is the only way to mold stubborn metal into something useful, pure, and strong.
I like this imagery of a refiner. It is a symbol of our God working with His beloved people. We are the stubborn, blunt metal and He is the Skilled Refiner. He is the One who calls us be useful and strong in our work to glorify Him. But He is the only one that can create us in this manner. His holy flame is perfectly applied at the right time for the right amount of time.
But the fire isn’t the end of it. The Refiner uses tools to shape and mold us. He may hammer us flat with sudden loss of job or loved one’s life. He may grind us to a point by repeated marital struggles or chronic sickness. He may stretch and bend us by the challenge of a special needs child or a clear missionary call to an unreached people group. While difficult, this process is necessary to mold us into a more perfect servant of our Holy God.
Think back to a hard trial, or reflect on one that you may be experiencing right now. How has God used His tools to make you into the person you are today? How are you better equipped because of it? Thank God now for the Refiner’s fire.
Steve Green wrote a song about the Refiner’s fire:
There burns a fire with sacred heat, White hot with holy flame,
And all who dare pass through its blaze, Will not emerge the same; Some as bronze, and some as silver, Some as gold, then with great skill, All are hammered by their sufferings, On the anvil of His will
As we bend to the flames of life, we can trust that through suffering, we will be sanctified and strengthened. Dear friends, rejoice in suffering, trusting the promise of God that He will not only protect us, as it is written in Psalms 91, but also mold, strengthen and purify us into the beautiful creatures that He intends us to be.
~Sara
