Seize the Moment – Day 1317
Trust God in the Fire!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Wednesday, October 25.
God is doing a good work in you, but it’s a painful process. Proverbs 17:3 uses the imagery of God as a smelter, “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests hearts.” The ministry of Jesus Christ is forged in this prophetic imagery, as foretold in Malachi 3:3, “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.” The following story explains the promise of this prophecy:
A woman made an appointment with a silversmith hoping to better understand this verse. 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 asked, “how do you know when the silver is fully refined?” He smiled and said, “Oh, that’s easy – when I see my image in it.”[1]
Seize the moment and apply the wisdom of Proverbs 17: trust God in the fire!
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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FOOTNOTE:
[1] Jerry D. Ingalls, Live on Mission Today: Battle Drills for a Christ-Centered Life (New Castle, IN: AGF Publishing, 2023), 227. Read “Battle Drill #25: Endure the Refining Process” (223-231), to learn how this truth applies to your everyday life so you can live a Christ-centered life to the glory of God.