Like Gold Refined

Yesterday I was listening to a sermon by Ray Bentley which explored why God allows difficulty in the lives of believers who are in the center of God's will.  The first reason pastor Ray gave was most appropriate:  to refine us and in so doing draw out impurities from our lives.

He spoke about when he used to work as a jeweler.  Before a ring would be cast, Ray would take a lump of gold and heat it until it was molten.  This is the best way to remove the impurities of this precious metal which is mined from the earth.  There are often different metals mixed in with the gold, and the only way to purify it is to apply great heat.  Most of us know when a cake or biscuit is fully cooked, but how does a goldsmith know when the gold is pure?  It is when he looks into the gold and can see his own reflection.

God allows tribulation and difficulties not because He hates us, but because of His great love for us.  He created the first man from the dust of the earth, and his propensity for sin and rebellion has been passed down to all men.  We are like precious gold in God's eyes even in our natural condition.  But after we are born again and forgiven for our sins, many impurities remain in our minds and hearts.  We are not useful to God or man while unrefined, even like a goldsmith cannot use polluted gold for his intricate creations.  So God applies the heat through trying circumstances.  When difficulties bring our sin to the surface for us to see, we can skim it off through confession and repentance.  God allows this sanctification process to continue until we reflect the image of Christ through our actions, attitudes, and words.

Gold is a soft metal, and God desires that His people would have soft hearts, filled with compassion, love, grace and mercy.  A soft answer turns away wrath.  God does not want us to be stubborn and foolish, following after the desires of our impure flesh.  He desires that we would be soft and pliable, like clay that easily yields to the control of the potter.  My friend is a potter and has a special press with a auger that can revitalise clay when it has begun to dry.  We not only need the Living Water of the Spirit, but we must be pressed and pushed through trials and difficulties to make us workable and useful.  After the potter makes a vessel it must be fired at a high temperature before it can be used.  An unfired pot may look good, but will easily absorb water, crack under hand pressure, and be worthless for its intended purpose.

Praise God that He has a plan and a design for each one of us!  God allows trials and refinement so we might be useable.  Refined gold is much more valuable than gold mixed with dirt, and a glazed and fired pot is worth exponentially more than a lump of wet mud.  Let us yield ourselves to God's design, trusting that God is for us.  As Paul says in Romans 8:31:  "If God be for us, who can be against us?"