The Ring of Fire

First, I want to sound a clear NERD ALERT for what is about to happen. But when the similes come, you have to take what you can get. And today you are getting a little bit of LOTR (that's Lord of the Rings for those who don't speak Tolkien). But, alas, I will get to that part later.

I'd like to start by saying that I have noticed that a good deal of my posts lately have been about spiritual matters. I have no idea if these posts are as interesting or helpful to read as they are to write, but in a way I don't care. Lately, I have been challenged and stretched in my faith in ways I never expected. As I have clung to, trusted in and relied on God to keep His promises I have found myself more aware of what He is doing in and around me. It doesn't always make sense, or go the way I would like it to - but that is part of what this blog is for, to help me make sense of my life one word at a time. Matthew 12:34 says, "For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks". Therefore, I am encouraged that my mouth seems to be speaking more about what God's doing than what I'm doing - at least in the blogosphere.

So... I have been feeling pretty good lately about where I am in my life. I feel on track with the goals I set for myself in regards to school, friends, family and faith. Things have been flowing pretty smoothly and I have felt real joy in my heart of hearts. I had even begun to think that I'd learned a thing or too about myself and from my mistakes and would have said I was making progress. And then, as if He knew (which He did), God decided to test my theory and He threw me in to the refining fires. It seems that this week God has dangled some pretty nice carrots in front of my face to see how I would respond. And I am humbled to say that I did not respond well. When the heat and pressure came I turned to my feelings to give me my bearings and left the facts in the dust. I let my eyes turn to what I wanted and forgot to ask if it was what I needed. And I found myself returning to past insecurities and wearing them as easily as an old coat. It seems I had not progressed as much as I would have thought.

I have always loved the image of the refiners fire. Silversmiths put their fire in the furnace to melt it and then the dross (impurities) would rise to the top and sit on the surface. They would then scrap off this dross before pouring the silver in to a mold to be made into something valuable and useful.

Proverbs 25:4 - "Remove the dross from the
silver, and out comes material for the silversmith;"

It seems that the fire is necessary if we are to be pure and of use. It is easy to dread the fire. It is hot and super uncomfortable. But in the end, it leads to the best version of ourselves - if we submit to the process and quit holding on to our impurities. In this way, we are not unlike "the precious" in LOTR. It was a beautiful and powerful vessel but it did not show it's true colors or deliver it's full message until it was put in to the fire. Only then did the true message show. We can fake it till we make it all we want. We can build our house of straw and try to cut costs and labor - we can do as little as possible to get by. But...

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 - "For no one can lay any foundation than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw , his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved but only as one escaping through the flames."

eventually the testing of our faith will show our true colors and the effort we have put in towards pursuing God's will. And in those moments of uncomfortable pain and pressure, we will either display the image of Christ or we will be branded with the scars of a person who was burned.

I admit that I have been burned this week. But, I can honestly say that while I got some new scars, I also feel that I lost some of those impurities as well. And that I am possibly a little closer to becoming something the silversmith can truly use. That is my hope and prayer: that my eyes would be not on the fire, or the silver, but on the one who makes beauty from ashes. This "giant" I face today is not really anything more than an opportunity to focus and trust God once more. It will work out. I have that promise. And I may have forgotten that for a moment, but, thankfully, it is my foundation.