Stay In The Fire!
On the day the Lord comes, he will be
Like a furnace that purifies silver or like
strong soap in a washbasin. No one will
be able to stand up to him.
The LORD will purify the descendants of
Levi, as though they were gold or silver.
Then they will bring the proper offerings to
the LORD. (Malachi 3:2-3)
God the Father, our Refiner in our text said; “He will purify the descendants of Levi, as though they were gold or silver.”
To purify a piece of gold or silver, the silver or goldsmith would have to hold the silver or gold in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest to burn away all the impurities.
The important question now is, “Why would God say that He loves and care for us as His children, yet purify us in the fire like we were silver or gold?
It doesn’t make sense.
Beloved with this question in my mind, using ‘gold purification’ as an illustration, I did a little research on; “how gold is purified, and why purify it at all ?’’
This opened my eyes of understanding to why God who loves us; will sit and watch us burn in the furnace of fire.
Gold Mining
When Gold is mined, it is barely discernable as the metal we have come to love. It is in fact what experts call an ore. The ore is extracted from the earth several hundred meters underground.
An ore can have a high or low amount of gold content depending on where it was extracted. Goldsmiths use cyanide to extract gold from ores, forming something called a ‘dore’.
Why is Gold refined?
Gold is not available in its purest form when it’s extracted from its parent rock after the miner’s mine.
Since gold extracted by mining is not pure, refining the gold help to remove impurities and extract gold in its pure form.
How is Gold refined?
Gold refining is a process that involves recovering gold metal from gold ore and converting it to pure gold, free from impurities.
There is actually a range of interesting scientific and technological ways gold can be refined.
However, one of the oldest methods of refining gold is refining by fire.
I’m not a goldsmith and have little experience working with precious metals, but what I read during my research on the process of refining and purifying gold captivated my interest in what the Holy Spirit was teaching me when He led me to write “Stay in the fire”.
The dore which was extracted from the ore goes through a trial by fire at a refinery, in an exciting process called refining. This is the oldest method of obtaining pure gold.
To refine gold, heat must be applied to force the impurities to the surface thus the furnace is heated up to almost 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
As the impurities rise, they are removed and more heat is applied. This process continues, as heat is applied and re-applied until the gold is pure.
The refining process is hot. This process must be incredibly painful for the gold.
The End Result
The refiner knows the gold is pure when he looks into the gold and sees his clear reflection.
Where is the Silver or Goldsmith when the refining process is ongoing?
The silver or goldsmith sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver or gold was being refined.
In refining gold or silver, one needed to hold the silver or gold in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.
Thus, He not only had to sit there holding the silver or gold, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. Because if the silver or gold was left a moment too long in flames, it would be destroyed.
The silver or goldsmith also feels the heat of the fire, as much as the silver or gold. Because he sits in front of the fire throughout the refining process, holding the piece of silver or gold.
The Bible often uses the imagery of gold or silver being purified as a picture of what God does in our lives.
The process of gold purification and refining as explained above is equated to the fiery trials Christians face as believers of Christ in their journey of faith.
Dear friends, don’t be surprised or shocked
that you are going through testing that is like
walking through the fire. (1 Peter 4:12, CEV)
Beloved, I know the refining fire process is hot.
The pain, disappointment, and loss cut deep into the core of your being like your heart is been reaped out of your body. You have prayed and fasted, prayed with, and prayed for by loved ones and Ministers in faith.
I for one have found myself in this type of situation several times.
You are confused as to why it seems the prayers are not being answered.
You’ve got to the end of the rope and feel like you just can’t take it anymore.
Depression seems to have you wrapped around it’s fingers.
You hear different voices questioning your faith in GOD as Jobs’s wife did to him during his own refining fire process.
Sometimes you hear a voice telling you to curse God and die.
I want to encourage you today, to stay in the fire.
Walking with God can strip you bare and naked. He does things that make Him seem unreasonable, mean, wicked and not loving as He says.
He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver or gold, holding us in such a hot spot not because He wants to burn us in the fire for the fun of it, nor to destroy us.
No.
God the Father our refiner, purifies and refine us as silver or gold through the furnace of diverse form of challenges, tests and trials of faith so as to cleanse us from all the impurities in us, which is hindering us from bringing a proper offering to the LORD.
This is why the heat is applied and re-applied until we like the piece of gold are pure, clear of all impurities and God the refiner looks into us (the gold) and sees His clear reflection in us.
God doesn’t just toss us into the fire, walk away and leave us to feel the heat and pain alone. He also feels the heat of the fire, your tears and your pain.
The beautiful thing about God the Father refining fire is that; just as in the case of the gold or silversmith above, He sits there in front of the fire the whole time we are being refined.
He’s choosing not to bring you out of the furnace of fire though you are in pain and crying is not because He is wicked or heartless but because of His deep love and affection for you.
He knows that after the whole refining fire process, you will be clean, and pure from all forms of impurities. His reflection in you will make you beautiful, expensive, and sorted after.
That’s the reason why He will not bring you out of the fire until your whole purification process is complete.
He did not spare Jesus Christ either.
Jesus Christ did not reach His destination of glory, without passing through His own furnace of fire experience, of suffering and dying on the cross for the sins of the world.
While on the cross, He felt forsaken by God the Father, our Refiner, just like you do now.
And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a
loud voice saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’’
that is, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
(Matthew 27:46)
If Jesus Christ being our master suffered and felt pain so much so that He had to cry out and ask God Why He has forsaken Him, then we as His followers will not be exempted.
God never promises life will be easy, (John 16:33), but His word says he works everything for good to those who love Him. (Romans 8:28).
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego the three Hebrew children faced a literal fiery furnace as their trial for refusing to bow to the gold image made by King Nebuchadnezzar. (Daniel 3:19-25).
They choose to be thrown into the fire than bow to the gold image. King Nebuchadnezzar commanded that they be thrown into the furnace of fire. He was stunned to see not three men but four men in the fire and he recognized that the fourth man in the fire was none other than the Son of man.
Beloved today I beseech you, to stay in the fire. I know the refining fire is hot and painful. But in it is your beauty revealed.
You are not alone in the fire.
There’s a fourth Man in the fire, He is right there in the midst of the flames. His name is Jesus Christ – Immanuel, God with us.
God Bless You
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