The Refiner's Fire.

And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.' Zechariah 13:9

Being cleansed is painful. It hurts to have the dross removed.

Dross:

1: the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal

2: waste or foreign matter : impurity

3: something that is base, trivial, or inferior

Dross that we don't see, that we didn't even know existed.

Those things in our lives that we are blind to.

Things that don't belong in a sanctified life.

Years ago when we lived in Germany we would visit a little guesthouse restaurant frequently and became friends with the owners. It was a family business and the entire family lived in the building; the elder couple, their son and his wife and two children.

Once we visited and the youngest grandchild, who was about 4 years old, had a cast on his leg and foot. He was crawling around dragging the cast and not enjoying it.

We asked about it and were told that he had been born with an extra toe, had surgery to remove it and was learning to walk again. It was intriguing that he had learned to walk with the unneeded toe but once it was removed he had to learn all over again because his balance was off without the extra appendage.

I thought that was a good analogy of what it's like when the dross is removed from our lives. It hurts to have it removed and then we have to learn to function out of our comfort zone. Our balance is thrown off and we waver and stagger for awhile.

Only we never have to learn to walk alone.

The little boy had to learn to stand up and walk by himself, with no help from anyone. We can lean on our Savior. We are always being led and held by our Father.

When we are weak then He is strong.

And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

So when you see me stumbling about, figuratively or literally, you can assume that I am learning to walk again-because there's a lot of dross in this gal.

Purify my heart,
let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart,
let me be as gold, pure gold.

Refiner's fire,
my heart's one desire
is to be…holy;
set apart for You, Lord.
I choose to be…holy;
set apart for You, my Master,
ready to do Your will.

Purify my heart,
cleanse me from within
and make me holy.
Purify my heart,
cleanse me from my sin, deep within.