Refiner's Fire

There is not an ingot of silver in heaven’s treasury which has not been in the furnace on earth and been purified 7 times; there is not a gem which the Divine Jeweler has not exposed to every sort of test; there is not an atom of gold in the Redeemer’s crown which has not been molten among the hottest coals so as to rid it if its alloy. It is universal to every child of God. If you are a servant of the Lord, you must be tried “as gold is tried.”
~C.H. Spurgeon

There are many days I wake up to a sense of peace and contentment that goes beyond my understanding’s own ability to comprehend. It is a serene and beautiful place in which to awaken. Though, it is rarer than not. I cannot seem to “un-know” this sense and have a longing to experience this state of being every day. Instead are the aches and pains of simply living in a body that is as tired of being asleep as it is of being awake. Those mornings are much more consistent than the other. As I convince my feet to hit the floor, I am reminded that I am not as young as I once was. I talk to God first thing…we discuss “my” plan, and then we throw it out the window. (I have to get it out of my system). And then, I can only surrender to what He has for me today.

I pray that my day is easy, but trust that though it may not be, He is with me. I pray that I might not have to face the “giants” of my world, but trust that if I do, He is with me. I ask for His protection, knowing that I really don’t have to, as He has promised me that He is with me always. I ask that I not be tested, but trust that if I am, He is with me. I hope that If I am tested, that I not fail. And if I fail, I trust that He is still with me.

Life is filled with challenges, trials, difficulties and disappointments. Most of which are a conquerable, but not without first going to battle. I say most, because, we know that we cannot always win every battle. At least not in the ways “we” consider winning. Many a brave soul has lost their battle to cancer, devastating injuries, or their own will to live. I can’t help but wonder how the Lord will use that for His good, His glory in the grand scheme of things I can tell you that I have seen with my own eyes how those who Love Him, even in their dieing breaths, have ministered to the grieving.

So many people I know today face difficult trials, financial, marital, spiritual, emotional…I could go on but the point remains the same. The only common denominator is the suffering that is evoked from the difficulty, and what position the "sufferer" takes with every trial, or situation that they face. It has been my experience that what separates those I have witnessed in such trials (including myself), is what or WHO those in the midst of trial trust in. I am learning that I must go through the difficulties, some being consequences of my own choices, and some a direct result of someone else’s. (Sometimes, it is just the natural course of events and no one is to blame). Nevertheless, I must get to the other side regardless of whose “fault” it is. I would rather lean on and trust the God who made me than to rely on my own strength to get to that "other side".

The reality is that it truly is a refining process, one that can occur no other way. The heat of the flame, the "breaking down" before the true forming begins, the assurance that we are in the hands of the Master who rids our lives of the alloy, the impurities that keep us from being our purest, most refined selves, fit for a crown.

I am accepting of this process, though I don’t always endure with grace. I am submitted, though at times, I kick against the goads. It is in His loving nature to remind me “whose” I am, and that no matter the process, He has not asked of me a greater suffering than He himself had not already endured.