He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness. Malachi 3:3, NIV

I heard this story over 25 years ago, and it has always stuck with me. There was a Sunday school teacher who was going to teach on this passage from Malachi, and decided to do a little first hand research. There was a silver refiner nearby, so she went down to his shop to find out how the process worked.

When she got there, she found the refiner peering intently into a large vat that was suspended over a fire.  She explained the reason for her visit, but was a little put off by his actions. Instead of looking up, he simply continued to peer into the vat of silver while at the same time working with a hand operated bellows. Finally he spoke, still not even looking up to see to whom he was talking to, and explained something of the refining process. He said, "I'm burning off the impurities  from the silver. If the fire is not hot enough, the impurities will remain. If it gets too hot, it will ruin the silver."

The teacher thought, "So that's it". When Malachi described God as a refiner, he was showing what God does as He removes our impurities. He gets the fire just hot enough to remove the bad things from our lives,  while at the same time making sure that it doesn't get too hot for us to stand." Satisfied that she had learned the lesson of the refiner, she thanked the man, who still had never looked up from his work, and started to leave. As she turned to go the refiner said, almost as an afterthought, "I have to keep my eyes on the silver at all times to know the exact moment that it is ready. I know it's ready when I can see my reflection".

There is a lot in that, when you think about it. God truly does allow us to go through many things in this life - not to harm us, but to perfect us for His service. Sometimes the fire seems awfully hot, but we need not worry as He will never take His eyes from us. And, of course, the most important part is that we will not be ready until the Master can see His reflection in us. Do you think that others can see God and Christ reflected in our lives? Probably, we all still have a bit more fire to go through before we are ready.

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. II Chronicles 16:9, NIV