3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify
the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.
Malachi 3:3 (New International Version)
I was told a story
once, by one of my friends who had worked in refining Gold. He
explained the process and why it was hard to work at this job. In
the refining process they had to heat the Gold till it was almost
ready to evaporate. The heat that was used was extraordinary. The
Gold glowed like the sun! Then the gold was placed into super
chilled water. The noise the gold made as it hit the water, sounded
like someone screaming in pain. The screaming sound always sent
chills up his spine because it sounded so much like a person
screaming in pain. The hotter the Gold was heated the louder the
scream. The hotter the Gold was heated the more pure it became.
As he told me this story I drew a parallel to how God refines us.
The hotter the situation, the more we scream as we endure. The
hotter the situation the more God purifies us. We are being refined
as Gold to be made pure. Sometimes we don't understand why God
allows us to be accused unfairly. To be hurt by those who we love
more than anything. To be convicted of crimes we did not commit. Why
God allows hurt to come in our lives when we have worked more than
anything to do God's will.
One person I can think of is Joseph from Genesis 39:11-15, he was
accused of sexually assaulting someone. Even though it was obvious
that he was innocent, he was still jailed. Gen 40:23 - 41:13
describes how Joseph was even forgotten for 2 years. Now that's
cranking up the heat. Yet Joseph came through pure as Gold and ruled
all of Egypt and through his purification the Israel nation was
saved from certain doom.
So when we face trials and tribulations, we can be assured that God
will see us through. That God is only working in our lives to help
us to be better person. When you are staring out of the abyss,
wondering why? Know that God is in control and has good planned for
us.