roadcrew 40|3

Christians, in a world of larger than life living and more is better mentalities, it is hard to imagine that decreasing anything adds value.  Take a look at our society: if companies merge, stock prices soar, but downsizing, reductions, and consolidations seem to have mainly negative effects.  In life many people feel the more possessions, cars, TVs, the more value other people will assess them.   The fewer things people have the lower other people value them.  “You don’t have an unlimited data package?”  “You only have 1 car?” As Christians, we live in a society where more is better and it is hard to not get swept away, but let’s take a look at silver.

Silver is something that God talks a lot about in scripture: refining and removing impurities.  Even in the secular world, pure silver is MORE valuable than unrefined.  If you have two ounces of unrefined silver and an ounce of pure silver, which is worth more?  The refined because it is pure.  As God takes us through our life, if our true goal is to be VALUABLE to Him, then we have to be prepared to be purified.  

The ancient purification process of silver is intense, it is put under extreme heat and then the impurities that come to the surface are removed.  The process reduces the volume.  You may have a pound of unrefined silver and end up with ¾ pound of refined silver.  Society might scoff, “you fool, you lost some, you had more but now you have less.”  What society does not realize is that the less you have now is more valuable than the more you had then.  The reduction of impurities boosted the value.

God will place you in intense situations where the heat feels unbearable, you see impurities rising up from within you, and He begins to remove them.   Remember this: He is doing it to increase your value and to purify you.  He is helping you to reach the full potential He has for you in His will.  It often comes through trial, pain, persecution, suffering, loss, or disappointment.

He has a plan to use you for a specific purpose, to put you in a high position for all eternity, but you must be refined before you can be molded into the final product.  Take heart and be encouraged, if God has reduced you physically it is to increase you spiritually.  The true test of pure silver is the mirror test.  The purer the silver, the more clear the reflection.  How pure are you?  What does Jesus see when He looks at you? Himself?  I pray He does, In Jesus Name, Amen.

This third I will put in the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold.  They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people,” and they will say, “The Lord is our God.”  Zechariah 13:9 (NIV)

See, I have refined you though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. Isaiah 48:10 (NIV)

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.  Proverbs 17:3 (NIV)

For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.  You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.  You let people ride over our heads, we went through fire and water but you brought us to a place of abundance.  Psalm 66: 10-12 (NIV)

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written and posted by Daniel Poggensee | 2017