Refiner of Silver

Mom received the following email on a really bad day for her. I thought it was really cool and it seemed to help so I wanted to share it with you. Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered that
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 silver. 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 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" Mom says this a great description of how God is always watching over us, especially when He tests us and or we are going through great trial. Mom said this shows God watches us even more closely during those times, and that He doesn't keep us in the "fire" longer than necessary. Mom also said that it also showed that the more we are perfected the more in God's likeness we become. (Told you this was cool!) To tie this in to both Thanksgiving and Christmas, this shows God's great love for us and I am so very thankful for that! Love, Beau