A guest post by my wonderful wife and best friend.

Refine- Remove impurities or unwanted elements from a substance.

I read a story once about a woman who was watching silver being refined. The silversmith explained to her that he had to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where it was the hottest to remove the impurities. Refining silver is a delicate process because if left a moment too long it will burn up. She then asked, how do you know when is enough? He replied, oh, that is easy, I see myself in it.

The question every Christian should ask themselves is is He easily seen through us? Are we easily refined? We are most like him when we are refined. We are being purified by our Heavenly Father, the Refiner. What a thought.

It’s in the middle of the fire as the story above stated where we see Him most clearly. Those valleys, those times where we think He’s the farthest from us. In all actuality, He is there and very much present, I just believe He’s letting us figure it out for ourselves. After all I don’t believe He’s a God of, “ I told you So’s”.

Often times when we’re being refined, we are also being corrected. That’s sometimes a tough pill to swallow.

Purge me God. Purify my thoughts and heart. Refine me like the silver until You are clearly seen in the evidence of my life.