Proverb of the Day 5/25

Proverbs 25:4 - “Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.”

There are many ways to refine silver. You can use acid, sodium nitrate, etc. However, refining by fire is the most effective way of producing pure silver. Like most of the best methods, it does take time. We as Christians are God’s precious possession. As pictured in this Proverb, we are like silver purchased by God. However, when we were bought, we had many infirmities. We were not pure. We were in no way fit “for the finer.” God in his mercy looked down on us, and looked past our infirmities and saw something else. He saw a beautiful piece of pure silver…shiny and bright, pure in the sight of all men. He knew that this was the result for which He strived, and wants to make us into something usable.

In order to accomplish this end, God understood it would not be an easy process, nor a quick one. He purposed in His heart, that the best way to attain a pure child of God was by fire.

Zechariah 13:9  “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

To be refined by fire is a slow process. It takes multiple trials in the furnace to bring forth pure silver of gold. Just like it takes many times in the furnace of God’s tests to excrete the infirmities in our lives. It might be a slow process…and it might take many times in the “furnace”, but every time we go through the fire, we come out a little more like Christ. When a silversmith is refining silver, all of the infirmities will rise to the top called the “dross.”  It will form a film like substance on the stop, which he will proceed to “skim” off and throw away!!! When God puts us through a trial, automatically our faults and infirmities rise to the top for everyone to see, however, it is your choice whether they just get mixed back in with the rest of you, or scraped off and thrown away.

What does it mean to go through the fire? The “fire” or refining process that God uses in our lives, are commonly referred to as “trials.” A trial is, “Experience; suffering that puts strength, patience of faith to the test; afflictions or temptations that exercise and prove the graces or virtues of men.” (Webster’s 1828) A trial is when God sees that there is something in our lives that needs to go…and infirmity. God then places us in the “fire” and refines our hearts. If we endure the trial, we will come forth purer than when we entered. God is putting your faith to the test, and as a result strengthening your walk with God and excreting the waste and infirmities in your life.

When a silversmith wants the best results in his refining, he place the silver over the hottest part of the fire. Do you feel that you are in a trial that is too “hot”/hard for you? Do you feel like you are going through more than you can bear? Christian, if you are going through a trial, PRAISE God that He has seen you worth of being place in the fire! It is an honor for God to look at you or me and say, “You know what? If I were to work with him/her I could really make something out of them!!! But, it’s going to take a little heat!” Do you know what God sees when he looks at you? He doesn’t see your infirmities as much as He sees your POTENTIAL!!! God knows that the most effective way of reaching your potential is to put your faith to the test!

You say, “I have been in this fire for so long!!! When am I going to get out!!! Haven’t I suffered long enough?” Do you know when the silversmith knows that his silver is done refining??? He knows it is done when He can see his image in it. Oh, friend, would you like to know when your trial will end? It will end when Jesus sees himself in you!!! God puts us in the furnace not for punishment, but in order to make us usable, pure, holy, and moldable! But, we will always be going through these “trials” until we let Jesus “skim” off our infirmities that make themselves most prevalent during refining!!! Are you going through a trial? Are you in the fire? Let Jesus throw away the dross, so that others can see Him in you!