Malachi 3:3 ‘And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.’
A refiner of silver… that’s very interesting. I ran across this verse and analogy today and it so stuck with me, I wanted to share it. In doing a little research into how silver is refined, I couldn’t help but draw the obvious comparison to the work and refining God does in our own lives.
The first step in the process of refining silver is that it has to be placed in the hottest part of the fire. The silver can’t just sit at the edge, it has to be in the middle where all of the hottest heat is located . I know we all go through trials. Some of us go through trials that seem like torture, and we can’t figure out any rhyme or reason as to why it’s happening. It’s so hard to have faith in those moments and to remember that God has His reasons and His purpose for our lives. But in order to refine us, sometimes we need to get put in the hottest part of the fire in order to achieve God‘s desired outcome.
Psalm 66:10~’ For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.’
The second part of the process is that the refiner has to sit and monitor the silver every second. He has to stay right there with it and make sure the silver doesn’t stay in the fire a moment longer than necessary. We have to remember in these moments, in these hardest trials, these hottest of fire moments, that God is with us the entire time. He is monitoring and controlling everything and He won’t let us stay in that fire any longer than necessary. At times, it feels like an eternity. And in our limited human timetable, we get impatient. But God‘s timing is perfect, and He knows exactly when to pull us out of the fire.
The last and most important part of the refining process, is how the refiner determines when the silver has reached its desired refined state. The refiner knows when it’s ready when he can see his image in the silver. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that what the desired result should be? That God… and others… should be able to see His image in us. We are put to the fire and molded and monitored and sculpted and made so that we are reflection of His image.
Nothing we go through is in vain. I know it’s hard to have faith when we can’t figure out the whys or the reasons for it. I know sometimes we stand there with our hands in the air crying ‘why Lord, why is this happening!?’ This is where big faith and trust is needed. And believe me, I’m still working on this myself. But we have to remember that God is our ultimate Silversmith. That He is monitoring the fire and He is there with us the entire time. He won’t let us stay in it any longer than absolutely necessary in order to bring about His will…in order to be able to refine us so that we are a reflection of His image and we can show that image to others who need Him desperately.
Zechariah 13:9 ~’ 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.’
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