1. a condition of great distress, pain, or suffering, something responsible for
2. physical or mental suffering, such as a disease, grief, etc.
How do you look at affliction? I think if you had asked me about 2 months ago, I would have said that it is exactly as the definition explains it. Its something bad. Not something I would even begin to call a blessing. So when I came across the verse I am about to reference, I had to really question this.
Is. 4:10 says, "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
So when put in this way, I look at it differently. A silver furnace is the best way for removing impurities called Dross. It is designed to refine the most precious of things and to remove the smallest of particles, but in this verse God says we are so much more important to Him that this means of refining is not good enough for us. God's refining purges us of our sins in a way even better than that of a silver furnace.
The Lord exercises His refining with wisdom and love. He cleanses us from the largest to the smallest things in our lives. Things so small we may not even know they are there. But God knows. He is good to cleanse even the smallest thing that might make us stumble.
During our recent trials, we were most definitely refined. There were times I truly felt that I would just burn up in the fire. That the refining He was working in our lives was much more than I could withstand. I would doubt, get in fear and cry out in pain. But like a good silver smith, My Lord new exactly the right temperature to apply to cleanse the impurities mentioned above.
I now see that He could not create in me, the person he wanted me to be without me learning total trust in Him. I was still trying to do things my way and in my time. I had to learn that no matter how you look at it, silver cannot refine, mold or shape itself into something useful, and neither can I. I am not capable of doing anything on my own, but through God, I am capable of accomplishing things I could never even imagine. I have a choice to make. I can either choose to be the dross that gets burnt off, or the silver that with time and patience, can be made into something strong and beautiful.
SO, I have learned that times of trial, testing, going through the crucible, are really just a blessing. It is a time of refining. Cleaning the impurities out of my life so that I can be that thing God is molding me to be. And this is a blessing! I am no longer that un-usable, un-bendible or un-moldible thing, but a person that God can mold and shape into something He can use.
Lord, Thank you so very much for the refining that we have gone through. Thank you for the strength that you have given me to endure some of the worst trials I have experienced in my life. Thank you for helping me to walk in forgiveness towards those who wanted only to hurt, destroy and defame us. You Lord granted us great victory. You showed us such mercy and grace. Help me to take this blessing Lord and share it with others. Let me walk in forgiveness, mercy and grace. Thank you Father for being who you are.
AMEN
