Precious Like Gold

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 (NLT)

Before gold can be made into any kind of jewellery, before it's beauty is fully realised, it has to be refined by fire.

The heat removes impurities making it the purest form it can be, before shaping. In the same way I've never known anyone to go higher in God without facing opposition and challenges; “fire” if you would.

The refining always pulls out what attitudes and mindsets hold us back and though it may ‘burn' a little it always produces a better gold in us.

What's interesting is that the purer gold is actually quite soft. This is how God wants us to become…softer and more supple to His ways…not harder! Eze 36:26 says “…I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

Refinement is always about softening us but if we allow our flesh to respond it has the opposite effect. When we feel a bit of heat we get upset and offended. We harden ourselves to the experience so as not to feel the same pain on the next encounter.

Although the softness makes us more vulnerable, it makes us easier to shape into what God has purposed us to be. When we function the way God intended us to live then our impact and influence has far greater reach. Far greater than we could ever achieve on our own.

Today, if you're feeling the fire, don't worry…it's just a little refinement happening. It'll remove the impurities and get you ready for the next level; shaping! God bless and have the best day…