emotions~i don't like them. They are so hard to deal with, and they are aggravating. My emotions go haywire all the time. My poor, sweet husband. He is so very patient with me. I am so glad God gave me him! I do not know what I would do without him! At church Mrs. Neal read a story about silver being refined. She said that when silver is put in the fire it has to be in the very hottest spot. Then how the silversmith knows when to take the silver out of the fire is when he can see his reflection in the silver. The point of the story was: we are the silver and God is the silversmith. And the fire....is the hard times in life. When God tells us to give thanks in all circumstances that is the refining process. Cause giving thanks takes a lot of work. When we give thanks, or at least when I give thanks in the hard times, its hard....really hard. But in giving thanks we get such peace. Philippians 4:6-7 "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the PEACE of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." What a comfort.... God's peace is going to guard our hearts and our minds!! I love that... cause I think way, way to hard about things. Most of the time my mind is in overdrive. Another element of all this is trusting. Trusting GOD fully. This is hard too. Expecilly if you(like me) like to be in control of things. Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths" And with this trusting and the peace that comes with it, comes contentment. Being content in our situation because we are at pease cause we know we can trust God to take care of it. Isn't it cool how it all works? So, all of this comes down to the silversmith seeing his reflection in the silver. God is working all things in our life for good, cause He is working them all in the direction of making us look like His son...the reflection. We are suppose to be like Jesus....And He trusted His father completely, and was at total peace, and completely content (even to death)... and that is our goal, to be like Him. So, the refining process is a must. To take all the inpure things out. The process hurts sometimes though....fire hurts, life hurts.
Now, just so you don't get me wrong. My life is not in the "fire" right now. But, I've just been thinking bout this. And yes I would say I'm in the process of being refined...but I would also say that we all are in some stage of the refinement at all times, if we are God's children. God is trying to teach me to do these things even when life is easy. To give thanks, be at peace, trust Him completely and be content. Even at time in life when I feel like I'm not being useful, He is trying to get me to see that its not about what I do, its about my relationship with Him. And, that even the slow times of life, when He says wait, no, and not now, He wants my complete trust and He wants me to give thanks, and in return He can give me His complete peace and contentment. I think the trade is well worth it. :)
~Hannah