I couldn't sleep. For some odd reason I started reading through old e-mails. I came across this one. I feel it is so moving. I am sharing it hoping it can helps others.
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 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 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."
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has
his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in
you. Pass this on right now. This very moment,
someone needs to know that God is watching over them. And, whatever
they're going through, they'll be a better person in the end.
"Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only
spend it once."
God owes us nothing but gives us everything.....
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