In the Furnace

 

I will turn My hand upon thee, and purely

 purge away Thy dross …

Isaiah 1:25

But who can endure the day of His coming?

And who can stand when He appears?

For He is like a refiner’s fire…

Malachi 3:2

Do you know what dross is?  I must admit that I thought I understood the gist of Isaiah’s text without having to know what that odd word meant.   Dross is the scum that is formed on the surface of molten metal.  These impurities must be removed prior to casting, so that the resultant metal is strong and pure.  The prophet Malachi stated that the Messiah was coming as “a refiner’s fire.”

Every single day we are faced with a spiritual “fire” of choices that we must make: 

• ·         Do I tell the truth? 
• ·         Do I fudge these answers just a bit? 
• ·         Do I curse under my breath? 
• ·         Do I join in the laughter when someone pokes fun at God? 
• ·         Do I climb the corporate ladder no matter what the moral cost? 
• ·         Do I step on someone else in order to get where I want to go? 
• ·         Do I put myself first – far away from the flames? 

God uses the dark times that are inevitable in human life to help us overcome as He clears the impurities from our hearts.  Being in the furnace of affliction is always an uncomfortable, often a painful experience.  How wonderful that we never have to face it alone.