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This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study
and they wondered what this statement meant
about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the
process of refining silver and get back to the
group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith
and made an appointment to watch him at work.
She didn't mention anything about the reason for her
Interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining.
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 says:
"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 was 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"
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire,
remember that God has his eye on you
and will keep watching over you
until He sees His image in you.
Whatever we go through,
we can become better people because of it,
if we seek God's way and will
and let God "refine" us through it.
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"Life is a coin.
You can spend it anyway you wish,
but you can only spend it once."
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