"If Gold Must Be Gold, it Must Pass Through the Furnace"

When I was in college, the pastor of a local church used an analogy that has always stayed with me: A young boy was watching his father refine gold. The father stirred the gold continuously; then he would stop and look into the pot for a moment. He then would turn the temperature up a little higher and then go back to stirring the pot. As the boy watched his father do this many times, he finally stopped and asked, "Dad, why do you keep doing that; why do you stop stirring to look into the pot and then turn up the heat?". The father replied, "You see son, I'm looking into the pot to see if I can see my reflection; if I can't I have to turn up the temperature to make sure this gold is purified."

When we are faced with hard times in our lives, we must remember that God is only trying to purify us. If He can't see His reflection when he looks into our lives, He has to turn up the temperature. That is the only way we will truly be refined and of great use to Him. If anyone reading this is going through difficult times, please remember that God will never put you in any situation that you won't walk out of better and stronger than you started.