Refined
Proverbs 17:3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace is for gold, but the Lord tests hearts.
I'm no expert but I know a little about silver and gold. I know that both substances are mined from the ground. Both are not easy to find. Both are precious and costly. Both have to be in pure form for there to be much value. As far as the purification process goes, which is what this verse is about, I don't know a lot. I know that the metals are heated up and the impurities are burned off or removed manually- chemically, mechanically, someway.
It is no accident that the writer of this proverb compares the purification process of the precious metals to our own testing. This is no startling insight...our goal is to be like Jesus Christ. Well in order to reach that goal, some things will have to be removed from my life, my thoughts, my habits, my ideas.
That will not be a pleasant process. Indeed, at times it may feel like I'm in a boiling pot as I struggle to make my will conform to His. There are times I definitely feel Him turning up the heat to get rid of impurities and then scraping off a top layer of the scum that rises to the surface.
The more I struggle, the more I resist to yield parts of my life to God, the more it is gonna hurt. Even when I purposely, willfully let go and actively seek God it is difficult.
"the Lord tests hearts" God wants to find those who are committed to Him. He seeks them but I don't think He finds many. It is one thing to give God lip service, to tell Him how we love Him and how committed we are to Him. It is an entirely different thing to live up to your words and actually follow Him. God is going to test us- I think for at least three reasons. To help us grow. To show us if we are committed. To show Him who is committed.
I pray that God tests me often and I pray that through the testing I grow more Christlike.
Be encouraged when you are tested.
Philip Buford
