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 Coming Forth As Gold
* The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts. Proverbs 17:3
I've had a lot of suffering in my life that has felt like searing fire. The pain of it is so intense and overwhelming it could not even be expressed. I could not imagine anything more destructive, and my life seemed to be reduced to worthless ashes. I thought I was totally destroyed by it, and would be forever useless. But God tells us in His word that He actually uses those depths of suffering, to make us MORE valuable and useful.
God allowed Satan to take everything from Job, and put him through the most shocking agonizing suffering, and yet he could say with confidence:
* But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10
The Refiner sat by the seven-fold fire,
As He watched by the precious ore,
And He bent more close with a searching gaze,
As He heated it more and more,
For He knew the ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
For to mould as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.
God has a perfect plan for each one of His children. His plan is for us to be like Jesus. And though we will never be perfect on this earth, God is always working to make us more and more like Jesus.
* And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. Romans 8:28-29
Usually all the world will ever see of Jesus is what shines through us, His children. Unfortunately, sometimes we aren't very Christ-like even though we are saved. We likely have all kinds of rough edges. We might be selfish and peevish, proud and irritable, harsh and judgmental, or any number of things that aren't Christ-like at all. Sometimes we may just not have the compassion and love of Jesus flowing out of us as richly as it could be. So our Heavenly Father goes to work on us to make the fragrance and beauty of Jesus shine through us. He goes to work to burn up the dross, and refine the gold.
* And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. Zech. 13:9
It's something that has been very hard for me to understand, and I’ve found that in the darkest times, I've been so overwhelmed with pain and tears, that I've wondered if God abandoned me, or if He was there at all. I couldn't see anything beyond the pain, and I was totally overwhelmed by it. I didn't know how He could let a child of His suffer so severely. My faith nearly failed altogether.
So He laid our gold in the flaming fire,
Tho' we fain would have said Him nay;
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away,
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears
That we saw but the fire, not the Master's hand,
And we questioned with anxious fears.
As the years have passed I've slowly learned that the everlasting arms have been underneath me the whole time though I couldn't see or feel them. I wasn’t abandoned or discarded. My Heavenly Father was nearer to me than ever. He was just burning up dross and refining gold. He was just making me more like Jesus.
Should we think it pleased such a loving heart
For to cause us a moment's pain?
'Tis not so, but that thro' the present cross
He should see an eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
And a love that is strong and sure;
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat
Than was needed to make it pure.
One very godly Christian speaker that I love to listen to tells about a time in his life, when he went through the fires of affliction. Trial after trial overwhelmed him, and left him so smashed and broken, that he felt there was nothing left for God to take. He would try to get up and go on, when the next wave of sorrow would overwhelm him. He was so confused and stunned that God would do that to him that he was afraid to get up again and go on. He was groaning "Why?" before God.
Then another blow came that shook him to the depths of his soul, and he went down on his face before God and prayed a prayer he never knew he could cry: "Let me die!!" He meant it from the depths of his heart.
Afterwards he asked his dear wife "Why?" "Why would God allow this to happen to me?" She told him she didn't have all the answers, but the one thing she did know was that God's dealings with him were perfect. And she told him that she saw something in Him now that she hadn't seen before. She told him, "I see Jesus in you." He was so touched to have her say that, because she knew him like no one else on earth did. He told God he would be willing to go through it all again starting right now, to hear his wife say those words to him.
God didn't let him die. He helped him to his feet again. But oh how changed he was. His self sufficiency was gone, and he had to say, "God, if I am to take another step it will be by thy grace alone."
He is now being mightily used of God in other people's lives. There's such a rich wealth of godliness and compassion in him. Some of my family members travel hundreds of miles just to hear him speak. He has come forth as gold.
I have a dear old missionary friend who has been more of a comfort and encouragement to me than I could ever begin to express. His total selflessness, deep compassion, and rock solid faith in Christ has been a balm beyond all words to my weary wounded heart. He has filled my life with so much sunshine, joy, and laughter, that if I didn't know him very well, and go through each trial with him, I might be tempted to think he has never felt anything but pure joy and sunshine all his life. But no. His life has held unmeasured suffering. He's had the deepest, most shocking hurt and betrayal that can be imagined. He's lived under such pressures and stress day in and day out that they couldn't even be told in words. He's had everything in his life in ashes at his feet. His health has become very frail. But I have never met a man who shows the love of Jesus to others like he does. To those of us who know and love him, he is the most pure gold that can be found on earth.
I've found that it's often the crushed and broken things of life that give the sweetest fragrance. It's often the ones that have had their dreams shattered, and their hearts broken that go on to pour out so much blessing and comfort on others.
My precious little niece loves to smell things. We go outside and she wants to smell the spruce trees. I pick several needles for her, and twist them in my fingers. When they are crushed and broken, I hold them up to her nose. She will breathe very deeply of them and say, "Ummmmmmmmm!" It is so precious and cute, and I do it for her all the time. I've realized there is almost no fragrance at all from them before they are crushed and broken.
Those poor spruce needles stay broken and crushed forever, but God doesn't leave His dear children crushed and broken and in the fire forever. He will bring us THROUGH it, and He tenderly tells us not to be afraid.
* Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest THROUGH the waters, I will be with thee; and THROUGH the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest THROUGH the fire, thou shalt not be burned; Isaiah 43:1-2
I have been forever changed by the fires of suffering, but I have not been destroyed. I have not been left a broken wreck on the shores of time. My heavenly Father has brought me through those depths of pain that I thought I could never live through. And though I'm very human, and shrink and shudder with horror at the thought of ever going through such suffering again, I know that He knows just what it takes to conform me to the image of His Son. And I'm so thankful that He loves me enough to keep burning up the dross in my life and refining the gold.
2004 A Sister In Christ
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