Refiner's Fire
 

A group of women were having a Bible Study on the book of Malachi.
As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says:
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver".

This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse, that "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."



Today, if you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God is right there holding you, and knows that exact perfect time when He sees His image in you!:)

That was excellent, Chemar. And I mean that sincerely. It was a good story, and you are a good writer.

Great story,Chemar..:)

it is such a great reminder when we are feeling the heat of life's tough times isnt it!

Idealist, I wish I could take credit for it, but it is actually a story that I found years ago. It had a tremendous impact on me, and I have never forgotten it. The original that I read was not attributed to anyone, but I sure thank whoever wrote it :)

I keep thinking about that story.

Even if you didn't write it, you still found it, saw the beauty in it, and then brought it home to share with the rest of us.

Thanks again, Chemar...

Some circumstances in my own life made me think of this so much today and so I thought I would bump it up for all of us going thru the heat:o

:o

I know a lot of us feel like we are going thru the fire at present so wanted to bump this up to encourage :grouphug:

I'm so glad that someone brought this story up again. I think I have thought about this more than any other story I've heard. Whenever I think that life is getting too tough, I remember this, and I imagine that maybe I'm being cast right now, and there's a purpose to my pain.

I also love this story and used it many times in lessons at church!

In my local church congregation, one of our leaders asked us to go home as a family and come up with a motto. This was an excellent exercise to help define what is truly important to you as a family, or a standard by which you all want to live. The one my family came up with (our last name begins with a C, thus all of the C words) an addition problem.

Commandments
Covenants
Charity
+Change
= Countenance of Christ

We shall look like Him, because we have learned to be like HIM.