Refiner and Purifier of Silver

I received a message from my oldest son. That put a smile on my face and a little more happiness in my heart. I was grateful we are opening up with each other in our love and validation. Each of us is going through a hard time; my heart breaks for him as he goes through his hard time. However, my heart rejoices that he is handling his adult responsibilities with compassion and selfless love. I am proud of him and his family of 7.  As a mother, I wish I could carry his burdens; however, I know those hard times are what strengthen us bring out the rich flavors of God in us. 

This following Bible scripture interpretation has meant a lot to me through the last 15 years and I'm dusting it off to apply to my situation, and possibly it will be meaningful to others:

Malachi 3:3 says:  "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

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 she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you. (Rev 1:14b)

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I am grateful my sister has sacrificed to spend time with me. I feel so unworthy; but so very grateful. Today we went grocery shopping; it tired me out so much I needed two 2-hour naps this afternoon. Some days the fatigue is intense. I'm grateful I had 2 good days this week.

A week or so after discovering the cancer, I could start to feel a hard rim (it felt like burned meat loaf crust texture) that was about an inch past the bottom of my right ribs. It seems to be growing and this morning as I was laying in bed, the hard portion is half-way to my belly button and covers most of the ^ notch between the left and right lower ribs.  I felt a little frightened, then realized that either God is in control or He isn't.  In my life, God is in control and I will trust Him to heal me or take me home. I am so content in my walk with Jesus, that I honestly do NOT have a preference.