The Fire Is for Refining
By Rick Warren
“I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.” Isaiah 48:10 (NLT)
When Daniel and his friends went through the fire, they didn’t burn up. Their clothes didn’t get singed. They didn’t even smell like fire! The only thing that got burned up were the manmade ropes they were tied up with.
What’s got you tied up? What’s holding you back? What’s limiting you from being all God meant for you to be?
God can use the trials in your life to eliminate what’s holding you back.
No one likes those times when things get stressful, deadlines are coming too fast, and expectations seem unreachable. But sometimes God uses heat in your life to burn off the stuff that’s tying you down. You just need to trust God through the pain.
God said in Isaiah 48:10, “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering” (NLT).
It’s unlikely you’ll literally go through a fiery furnace in your life, but you’ll go through the furnace of suffering many, many times. But God never wastes a hurt! He promises to refine you with that fire.
It’s like silver and gold. When it’s heated up, all the impurities are burned off. Then, you’re left with 100 percent gold or silver.
If you ask a silversmith how to know when silver is pure, he’ll tell you it happens when you can see your reflection while looking into the cauldron.
God knows you’re purified when he can see his own reflection in you, because you look more like Jesus Christ.
Only the fire can do that in your life. Only the fire can test you and refine you and show you what really matters.
Wherever you are feeling the heat today, you need to remember what the fire is producing in your life. Trusting God will not always take away the heat. But it will help you see how he is walking with you and help you thank him for how he is making you more like him.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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