Sunday Message: Purifying silver

This week I had "one of THOSE days"- you know, the kind where everything is a little test of what you know God wants you to do, but you don't catch on quick enough to act out.  Swarms of little things that you try to fend off, give to God one by one, until you finally screw up.  And then, you (or at least I) say to God, "Why do You set up this life to be one big test, until you fail- and then do it all over again the next day?"

And then, God says to you (or at least to me), "There was only one test- you passed that when you gave your life to Me.  The rest is refining."

Refining?

"Yes, refining.  and in refining, you have some days that you melt smoothly, and some days that you pop and sizzle."

I sure seem to pop and sizzle a lot...

"Well, you have more things to refine out of you those days."


So this morning I decided to look into Biblical refining, and noticed more often than not, our refining is likened to that of silver.  So I looked into silver refining, and I quickly found a story that made me realize there was more to the story than a little "pop and sizzle":


Refining Silver

Some time ago, a few ladies met in a certain city to read the scriptures, and make them the subject of conversation. While reading the third chapter of Malachi they came upon a remarkable expression in the third verse: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." One lady's opinion was that is was intended to convey the view of the sanctifying influence of the grace of Christ. Then she proposed to visit a silversmith and report to them what he said on the subject.

She went accordingly and without telling the object of her errand, begged to know the process of refining silver, which he fully described to her. "But Sir" she said, "do you sit while the work of refining is going on?" "Oh, yes, madam," replied the silversmith; "I must sit with my eye steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured."

The lady at once saw the beauty, and comfort too, of the expression, "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Christ sees it needful to put His children into a furnace; His eye is steadily intent on the work of purifying, and His wisdom and love are both engaged in the best manner for them. Their trials do not come at random; "the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

As the lady was leaving the shop, the silversmith called her back, and said he had forgotten to mention that the only way that he knows when the process of purifying is complete when he sees his own image reflected in the silver....

--Author Unknown


A story that is beautifully amplified by Psalms 12:6:

Psa 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. 

Seven of course meaning completeness.  But I looked further, and here are some things you might not have known about silver refining.

-Rarely is silver the biggest component of the ore.  In fact, you are lucky if you find as much as 2 %.  You wonder at the trials you get put through?  You are 98% work in process!

- Only 25% of ores are mined and refined FOR the silver.  Most ores, anything good like silver is just an afterthought.  Lesson: any sinner might have some good deeds.  God looks for the 25%.  Only with us, it's a lot less, sadly.

- EVERY ore has sulfides.  Sulfides= sulfur= brimstone.  We all are sinners- we all have hell to be burned out.

- Many have iron pyrite- fool's gold.  And you can't tell for sure without the processing...

- Most are ores of one of three metals.  Lead, Copper, and Zinc.  Lead is soft, bends, and is poisonous.  Copper is biostatic, meaning microorganisms- life- cannot grow on it.  Most Zinc (remember the end of the story?) has a dull finish.




So if the question is, "Why do we have days like this?", the answer is it's part of our refining.  If the question is, "Why do we need refining so much?", the answer is because what God wants to bring out is not only rare in the world, it is rare IN US.  But the smart question, here in the USA, should be:

"How is it that others suffer so much more than me?"

The answer has to be, God has a finer thing to make of them.  Food for thought, especially if you are complaining about "one of THOSE days."