Refiner's Fire...

I heard something a while back and did not get a chance to write it down in my own words and thoughts... so... here it is...

When a silver smith is refining a piece of silver, he puts it in the fire in order to refine it. Remove the impurities and make it more fully itself.
God has made me the person that I am. When sin came into the world, I was filled with impurities and sin filled my being. Yet, the person that God originally made me into, is still inside and I can be more fully that person when I am refined.
In order to refine silver, it must be placed into the hottest part of the fire, for it is only in the hottest point, that the deepest defects can be burned out. And yet, amazingly enough, even as this is done, if the silver smith is careful, the silver will not be damaged from the flames.
I have been placed in the fire... sometimes I feel like I am in the hottest part, and yet there are always hotter places to go. While it is tough, I can understand the need for me to be in the fire. God is refining me. The only way the impurities can be burned out of the deepest recesses of my heart and soul is to place me in the center of the fire, where difficult times in my life make me a stronger person, who is more sure of my faith and of the person that God would have me be. God is being careful. I will not be burned, or even singed, for my heavenly Father is watching out for my well-being.
The silver smith must watch the piece of silver constantly, because if it is in the fire even a moment too long, it will be damaged completely.
God has never, is not, and will never turn his eyes away from me and the struggles that I face in my life each and every day. The struggles that are on the outside that the world can see, as well as the struggles that remain hidden from the world, the ones that eat me from the inside out. God is burning them out so that eventually I will be free from the burdens that haunt my soul.
The silver smith knows that the time has come to remove the silver from the flames when he can see the reflection of his image in it.
God knows when to remove me from the fire when He is able to see his image in me. He created me in his image originally, and I still have that original image within me. Now the impurities are being burned away so that I will once again be the person and work that God created me to be, and I will reflect his image through my life.

However... the day has not yet come and could possibly be a long way off yet... it is coming... one day... yet... when I am in heaven with my God, my King, my Savior, my Lord... My Friend... then I will reflect God wholly in the way that He would have me do.

I love you Lord!