The Refining Process

UV 1336/10,000 The Refining Process

And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God
Zechariah 13 v 9
In nature as in our bodies, it is only a part of the food that we eat that is absorbed by the body- a major part or two thirds is rejected and excreted. There is a process of refinement and purification involved in life. The application of this principle is that everything that we desire or think or speak is not necessarily good. It should be sent through certain processes of separation of good from bad, of distillation for the end product to be absolutely useful and good. None of us is perfect but all of us are exhorted by Jesus to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. It implies that we should not be content with what is good. It should get better and keep getting better till it reaches the point of best. Improvement, constant improvement is the order of the day in the Kingdom of God. Excellence is the process and perfection is the destination.

God uses fire and water to refine us. The “hot” times are the times He tests us through fiery experiences. He uses water to cool and wash us – these are the “cool” times. An alternation of “hot” and “cool” is used to shape and fashion us, to purge and refine us. The pure and refreshing water that He uses to “cool” us is the Word of God. It gives us the confidence and the courage, the persistence and the inner strength to keep moving through the “fire”. When we go through the fiery experiences, the dross or impurities, the doubts and fears melt and are separated from our faith and character.

If we are three parts- body, mind and spirit, it is the third part- the spirit that gets greatly strengthened when our faith and our personal relationship with our Maker and Redeemer, our God and our Lord is purified. Our spiritual eyes are opened. We live no longer by sight but by faith. We realize that it is only God who saves us and preserves us through the fire and the water. First we call on Him and He hears our call. Our faith in Him grows when we realize that the Lord has heard our prayers. When we affirm that “He is our God”, He in turn affirms that “ we are His people.” The mutual recognition of each other is the basis of a personal relationship. When we do this voluntarily, we reduce the workload for God and reduce the pain we need to go when we compel Him to subject us to various fiery learning, pruning, refining, distilling exposures in life.

Collectively, we constitute the remnant in the crucible of God- the pure and precious remnant. We need to willingly acquiesce and joyfully participate in the process of refinement and purification. We should stop resenting it and struggling with God as the word “ Israel” implies. We should also send our speech, our thoughts and our desires through a filteration process. The litmus test is whether it is pleasing to God. If it is pleasing to God then it is wholesome and healthy for us. God Himself is described as a consuming fire. The Holy Spirit is a gentle flame. We need to ask the Lord to remove the dross or what is unnecessary from our desires, thoughts and words. The God-man gap is what is known as "sin" or "hamartia". The process of refinement reduces and closes the gap.

Prateep V Philip