But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.  Malachi 3:2-3 NASB

So the story goes:  There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three, which says: He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot -then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver were left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, how do you know when the silver is fully refined?

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

It's easy to look at my circumstances and get discouraged by the endless challenges that seem to come against me.  These are the flames that God is using to purify my life and burn off any of the impurities from my character.  It's a painful process and sometimes it seems like it's more than I can bear, but I need to remember that He's holding onto me and watching continuously.  God won't let anything come against me that He hasn't prepared me for and I need to hold on to the vision of what I'm being molded to.

I hope He's able to see His reflection in me more clearly every day and I look forward to the day when He'll be able to see His face clearly in me... I'll finally be purified and I'll never again endure the flames.