This blog really only applies to those who are saved and trusting in Jesus Christ for their eternal welfare. It may have an application in measure to others in the experiences of life but you can't claim that God is working in your life and seeking to refine you if you don't trust Him for your destiny in the next life.
For many people there is an unanswered question in life. ‘If God really loves us why does he allow storms to come into our lives at all?’ Two reasons. First, we bring many of our problems on ourselves. Someone has said, ‘If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles in the backside, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for two weeks’.
The second reason is best explained by telling a story. There was a group of women that met for Bible study. While studying the book of Malachi, chapter three, they came across verse three which says: ‘He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out more about the process of refining silver, and to get back to the group at their next Bible study.
The following week, the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest, beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she though again about the verse, that says, ‘He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.’ She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, ‘But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?’ He smiled at her and answered, ‘Oh, that’s easy -- when I see my image in it.’
Every one of us can be in a storm, afraid, convinced we won’t last the night. In your darkest hour, when everything overwhelms you, remember that the Great Refiner is sitting there with His eye on you all the time! Just as Jesus was in the middle of that storm in Galilee 2000 years ago, today, wherever, whenever there is a crisis, a tragedy, sickness, sin, fear or pain in your life, Jesus is always there. Although at the moment when you are experiencing it, when you've struggled through the day and you can’t sleep at night, even though you can’t see Jesus because of your absolute distress, He is closer to you than you could ever imagine with His eye on you every single second.
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion and purity.
May His Spirit divine all my being refine
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
Written by a Guest Blogger
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