God's Refining Process

     Psalm 66:10 "For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried."  God said in Isaiah 48:10 "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver, I have tried you in the furnace of affliction." When God said, "I have refine you." He is referring to the purification process of precious metals. He said that he has tested us in the furnace of affliction meaning he is testing us and refining us through the intensity (the heat) of our trials.
     1 Peter 1:6-7 "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith---more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire---may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The apostle Peter said that we went through various trials and some was necessary so that our faith could be tested. He said our faith is more precious than gold. Some of the trials that we experienced was like the same as we were tested in the furnace of affliction. Our faith was tested and our faith might even grew stronger, by our endurance and perseverance during our trials. The trials that we faced helped to refine us so that when Jesus returns he would be pleased at our heart's condition.
     This refining process of God is making us more like Christ. It is creating good qualities in us. The discipline of God produces the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Hebrew 12:10-11 "For they discipline us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines for our good, that we may share his holiness, For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Just as verse 10 said, our earthly fathers disciplines us for a short time as it seems best to them but our heavenly Father discipline us for our good. He wants us to be pure and righteous like him. The discipline from God is not punishment it is loving training and correction of a father shaping his children.
     In the book of Malachi, it foretold the coming of Jesus Christ. It said that he is coming as a refiner, a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and he will refine them like gold and silver. Malachi 3:2-3 "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD."
     The Levi's were the priesthood of the Old Testament. We went from the old Levitical system to the New Covenant making all believers of Jesus Christ into a holy priesthood. 1Peter 2:5 "You yourselves like living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Jesus is the refiner and we are the gold and silver to which he is purifying so that we will bring offerings of righteousness to the LORD.
     How is gold and silver refined? The refiner is called a silversmith or a goldsmith in our present time. A silversmith heats raw silver in a crucible. A crucible is a small pottery, stone, metal or ceramic pot used to melt and purify precious metals like gold and silver. It is able to withstand extreme heat. The silversmith will set the furnace to the right temperature and constantly monitors the metal making sure that it does not become overheated and ruined. The silversmith will sit down and use crucible tongs to put the crucible into the furnace fire. He will watch the melting of the silver and when the silver gets hot enough the impurities called dross will start to rise to the surface. He will then use a scraping tool to skim the impurities from the melted silver. The silversmith will know when the silver is pure when he can see his reflection in the silver metal.
     We can see how Jesus refines us by the way the silversmith refines silver. Jesus will take the raw silver which is us then put it in the crucible representing our trial. He then will apply the right amount of heat to our trial in order to remove the impurities that which is causing us our problem. He will stay there with us and carefully watch over us. He will see the impurities separating from us. Jesus will then look at our heart so to see if it has been purified. He will know that it has been purified if he can see his reflection in us.  

Proverbs 17:3 "The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests the heart."

James 1:2-3 "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."

Romans 5:3-4 "Not only that, but we rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope."

1 Peter 5:10 "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."