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 launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them (or refine them) as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Malachi 3:2-3 NKJV

When we are born again, we thank God that the perfect righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us by grace. We couldn’t earn it, and we don’t deserve it, instead it is a free gift from our loving Father. Scripture tells us that we also receive a new heart and a new spirit from the Lord (Ezekiel 36:26). We know that our old man was crucified with Christ and that God has made us into a new creation in Christ. We gratefully accept this truth by faith, but does that mean that we never stumble again? Is our walk blameless from that moment on? Do we resemble the perfect character of Jesus immediately after we are born again?

I think most of us would agree that we have made some mistakes after we were born again. We may have told a lie, or acted impatiently, or given into moods like self-pity or negativity, etc. There should be a radical change in us after our baptism, however there is still a deeper work which needs to be done in us in terms of purity, as well as character development. Just as a metal refiner would heat metal with the purpose of refining it into its purest form, Scripture tells us that the Lord purifies us and refines us in a likewise manner. 

When metal goes through a purification process, the metal refiner would heat the metal to a very high temperature until it completely melts into a liquid form. The refiner does this so that all the impurities within the metal can rise to the surface with the intention of skimming them off. For the metal refiner, this process is worth the reward because the precious metal is of far more value in its purest form without all the dross (which could include things like tin, lead and zinc).

I absolutely love this next part:

Once a refiner of silver has removed all the dross, the liquid metal starts to resemble a mirror in appearance and clarity. The refiner knows that the process of refining is complete when he can see his perfect reflection in the metal. Likewise, the Lord knows that the process is complete within us when He can see His perfect reflection in us. Thank You Jesus!

It is never easy to go through testing and trials, because when the heat is turned up, impurities will rise to the surface. These impurities could be things like secret sins, unforgiveness hidden in our hearts, or imperfections in our character that the Lord wants to highlight to us so that He can completely remove them from our lives. Sometimes we may not even know these things are there until the heat of the test or trial brings them to the surface. Scripture tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Once we have repented of what the Lord has highlighted to us, He then removes these impurities from our lives just like the metal refiner skims off the dross from the precious metal.

The other amazing truth about this Scripture in Malachi, is that it says that the Lord ‘sits’ as a refiner of silver and gold – meaning that He never leaves the process unattended. He is with us the entire time, keeping a close watch on us while we go through the process, because He cares so deeply for each of us. A metal refiner would carefully watch the metal which is subjected to very high temperatures to ensure that the process is successful and that the metal doesn’t get damaged in any way.

An example of someone in the bible who endured great testing is Job, but he understood the purpose behind the test.

But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:10 NKJV

Once we have been tested, we too shall come forth as gold. Gold in Scripture is a reference to faith as well as a godly nature. As we cooperate with the Holy Spirit during these testing seasons, we know that the Lord is busy refining us so that we can look more like Jesus in every way. It’s natural to focus on the difficulty of the trial or test, but may I kindly encourage us to choose to shift our focus to those things which have eternal value. We can choose to look to the reward, knowing that God is good and that His purposes are greater than we can even imagine. Let us choose to trust the Lord and follow His leading by faith.

I pray this message blesses you and encourages you to keep your eyes on Jesus continually, knowing that He is always with you – watching over you.