Refined By Fire

Refined by Fire

I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.

Isaiah 48:10

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

1 Peter 1:7

He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD.

Malachi 3:3

In ancient times, a workman would take a piece of ore found in the ground, crush it into pieces, and place it in a pot. He would then put the pottery into a fire. The refiner would watch the fire carefully, knowing just how intense the flame needed to be to soften the ore. At a certain temperature, the impurities would rise to the top so they could be skimmed off, leaving a bubbling treasure of liquid metal.

The refiner was patient, knowing just how long the metal should stay in the fire so that more and more unwanted material would rise to the surface, until finally he could look into the liquid silver and see what he had been working for and waiting for: his own reflection.

God describes himself as a refiner. He puts us into the fire of suffering—not to hurt us, but to cause impurities in our lives to bubble to the surface so they can be removed. He knows just how hot to make the fire and how long to keep us there. He plunges us into the fire so he can shape us into his image. And he waits patiently until he can see his own reflection in us.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What at your house is made of silver or another precious metal?

What kind of “impurities” does suffering bring to the surface in our lives?

How can suffering help us to look more like Jesus?