The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. ~Proverbs 17:3
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives. Though you grind a fool in the mortar, grinding him like grain with the pestle, you will not remove his folly from him. ~Proverbs 27:21-22
Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes material for the silver smith. Remove the wicked from the government and it will be established through righteousness. ~Proverbs 25:4-5
But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit like a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify us and refine us like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have people who will bring offerings in righteousness, and our offering will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. ~Malachi 3:2-4 (adapted)
See, I have refined you, though not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. ~Isaiah 48:10-11
We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. ~Romans 5:2B-5
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:2-4
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If what is built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss. He or she will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. ~1 Corinthians 3:11-15
Have you ever thought of your suffering as God doing you a favor? God uses suffering to refine us so that we can travel light in character, into His kingdom. Through suffering we learn to let go of all the things that don’t matter, all the things that are extra baggage that will just clutter up His kingdom. I remember hearing the story of a very wealthy individual that died and went to heaven. Somehow, the man had managed to bring along a suitcase full of gold bricks. When Peter met him at the gate, he told the man that he couldn’t bring anything with him into heaven. The man begged and pleaded, stating that he had worked very hard and accumulated much wealth and that, he wasn’t bringing everything, just this small representation of all he had amassed while on earth.
The man seemed so determined that Peter finally said, “Well, okay, but just this one bag.” He stepped aside and let the man pass. After he had gone further in, the angel Gabriel approached Peter and enquired, “Is there a problem?” Peter said, “Well, that man just seemed to be very attached to those paving stones. I tried to stop him, but it was breaking his heart to leave them behind, so I gave in. I just can’t imagine being that attached to something that you use in street repair.”
Our values are often upside down from God’s. Suffering, along with discipline, are tools that He uses to set us straight as we grow wise. Suffering helps us to let go of the things in this world, that usually don’t work in the long run anyway. He helps us replace those things with Him, the resource that will never fail. “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.”
It is a blessing that God oversees our perfection so closely. He knows how He made us to shine for Him. His effort is wasted on a fool. “Though you grind a fool in the mortar, grinding him like grain with the pestle, you will not remove his folly from him.” Fool’s gold will always just be pyrite, or common rocks. But God sees within us something of value, so He removes what we don’t need, to make us shine.
Many of the quotes above refer to testing and the refiner’s fire. Neither of these processes are pleasant at the time, but necessary to weed out our impurities, see where we still need improvement, and strength. From Isaiah, we can see how personally God Himself takes this process. “See, I have refined you, though not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.”
We represent Him, not just here on earth, but in eternity. We will mingle with and be on display with all the other saints who have endured and have been perfected by the same process. If we arrive with our little defects, such as pettiness, jealousy, fits of anger and tendency to complain still in place, it will take away from the masterpiece He is creating in us. We would still have bruises inflicted by satan upon us, but God says, “I will not give My glory to another.” So, He puts us through what is necessary to remove those defects of character from us.
Malachi refers to refining us like refining silver. Evidently, when refiners of his day refined silver, they sat and watched by the fire, until the refiner’s face could be seen clearly in the molten metal. That’s how the refiner knew when all the impurities were gone. We are being refined until the face of Jesus is seen clearly in us. He will not give His glory to another.
Think about it, if you had created something, and had it stolen from you, then you bought it back with your blood, wouldn’t you be concerned about its care? That’s what happened between God and us. Now that He has us back, through the blood of His Son, He will polish us and strengthen us until we are the way He wants us, for the sake of His glory. “We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
He is not doing any of this to be mean, but out of love. He knows what we are capable of enduring, with His help. He knows how we need to be to glorify Him most. After all, deep down, isn’t that what we truly want? It’s not about us, it’s about Him and for Him, so we rejoice that He is working to make us beautiful.
Prayer: Father, thank You for all the ways You work things out for my good. Even my suffering only comes through Your watchful eye, making sure that it will purify me. Purify my heart Lord. I choose to be holy, set apart for You, ready to do Your will. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Refiner’s Fire
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives. Though you grind a fool in the mortar, grinding him like grain with the pestle, you will not remove his folly from him. ~Proverbs 27:21-22
Remove the dross from the silver, and out comes material for the silver smith. Remove the wicked from the government and it will be established through righteousness. ~Proverbs 25:4-5
But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit like a refiner and purifier of silver. He will purify us and refine us like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have people who will bring offerings in righteousness, and our offering will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. ~Malachi 3:2-4 (adapted)
See, I have refined you, though not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another. ~Isaiah 48:10-11
We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. ~Romans 5:2B-5
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of various kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ~James 1:2-4
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If what is built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss. He or she will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. ~1 Corinthians 3:11-15
Have you ever thought of your suffering as God doing you a favor? God uses suffering to refine us so that we can travel light in character, into His kingdom. Through suffering we learn to let go of all the things that don’t matter, all the things that are extra baggage that will just clutter up His kingdom. I remember hearing the story of a very wealthy individual that died and went to heaven. Somehow, the man had managed to bring along a suitcase full of gold bricks. When Peter met him at the gate, he told the man that he couldn’t bring anything with him into heaven. The man begged and pleaded, stating that he had worked very hard and accumulated much wealth and that, he wasn’t bringing everything, just this small representation of all he had amassed while on earth.
The man seemed so determined that Peter finally said, “Well, okay, but just this one bag.” He stepped aside and let the man pass. After he had gone further in, the angel Gabriel approached Peter and enquired, “Is there a problem?” Peter said, “Well, that man just seemed to be very attached to those paving stones. I tried to stop him, but it was breaking his heart to leave them behind, so I gave in. I just can’t imagine being that attached to something that you use in street repair.”
Our values are often upside down from God’s. Suffering, along with discipline, are tools that He uses to set us straight as we grow wise. Suffering helps us to let go of the things in this world, that usually don’t work in the long run anyway. He helps us replace those things with Him, the resource that will never fail. “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.” “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.”
It is a blessing that God oversees our perfection so closely. He knows how He made us to shine for Him. His effort is wasted on a fool. “Though you grind a fool in the mortar, grinding him like grain with the pestle, you will not remove his folly from him.” Fool’s gold will always just be pyrite, or common rocks. But God sees within us something of value, so He removes what we don’t need, to make us shine.
Many of the quotes above refer to testing and the refiner’s fire. Neither of these processes are pleasant at the time, but necessary to weed out our impurities, see where we still need improvement, and strength. From Isaiah, we can see how personally God Himself takes this process. “See, I have refined you, though not as silver. I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.”
We represent Him, not just here on earth, but in eternity. We will mingle with and be on display with all the other saints who have endured and have been perfected by the same process. If we arrive with our little defects, such as pettiness, jealousy, fits of anger and tendency to complain still in place, it will take away from the masterpiece He is creating in us. We would still have bruises inflicted by satan upon us, but God says, “I will not give My glory to another.” So, He puts us through what is necessary to remove those defects of character from us.
Malachi refers to refining us like refining silver. Evidently, when refiners of his day refined silver, they sat and watched by the fire, until the refiner’s face could be seen clearly in the molten metal. That’s how the refiner knew when all the impurities were gone. We are being refined until the face of Jesus is seen clearly in us. He will not give His glory to another.
Think about it, if you had created something, and had it stolen from you, then you bought it back with your blood, wouldn’t you be concerned about its care? That’s what happened between God and us. Now that He has us back, through the blood of His Son, He will polish us and strengthen us until we are the way He wants us, for the sake of His glory. “We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.”
He is not doing any of this to be mean, but out of love. He knows what we are capable of enduring, with His help. He knows how we need to be to glorify Him most. After all, deep down, isn’t that what we truly want? It’s not about us, it’s about Him and for Him, so we rejoice that He is working to make us beautiful.
Prayer: Father, thank You for all the ways You work things out for my good. Even my suffering only comes through Your watchful eye, making sure that it will purify me. Purify my heart Lord. I choose to be holy, set apart for You, ready to do Your will. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: Refiner’s Fire
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