Refining

I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, “These are my people,” and they will say, “The LORD is our God.”

Zechariah 13:9

GOD’S DISCIPLINE IS not fun. In fact, God says it’s like being refined in fire. Have you ever watched a blacksmith or an artist refine some metal? Although the process doesn’t look too bad at times, the reality is that the fire is very hot. The metal must melt. The impurities come to the surface, such as with silver or gold, and they must be scooped away. How does the fire work with Christians?

Troubles, disappointments, guilt, failure, anxiety, rejection—all kinds of things happen to us in this life, and God assures us that these are his means of refining us. Nothing ever happens to us by accident. It’s all part of God’s plan. God never causes evil or commits sinful acts against us, but he does allow difficulties and struggles to be a means of shaping us and changing us. He works around and through them to make us more like Christ.

Too many Christians think becoming a follower of Christ means having no more problems. But it’s not that way at all. In fact, in some ways, following Christ means we may have even more problems because we choose not to go the way of the world. But God promises that he is refining us through the process and that one day we will emerge pure, beautiful, and perfect.