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Don't Fight the Fire
Ezekiel 22:22
"As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you."
Years ago I had the opportunity to tour a refining plant and saw the process of making gold pure. It amazed me how many times they put gold through the fire just to get all the dross removed. In the verse above, God mentions the refining process through which He sent Israel. The whole purpose of the refining process was to remove the dross that Israel collected. Though the refining process was not going to be pleasant, if Israel allowed the process to do its work they would come out for the better.
Often God has to send His children through the fire so He can make them a better person. Though the fire is never pleasant, it is through the fire that the gold inside of you will be refined. Without the fire, you will never experience the best that God has for you because the dross will hold you back. Let me give you several observations about dross removal.
First, dross is a collection of bad habits that have been acquired over time. The word "dross" means, "waste matter, worthless matter, impure matter, scum that forms on the surface of gold." You can see in the definition alone that God must send us through the fire to remove dross.
Second, dross must be removed so that you can become what you're supposed to be. Because of your collection of bad habits, you will never be what you could be without them being removed. If you're not careful, you will collect many habits that are impure, worthless scum that will hinder you from doing for God what you are capable of doing. Without the dross being removed, you will never reach your potential.
Third, the fire is for purification. I want you to notice something about the fire; only the valuable go through the fire. There is no need to put something through the fire that is not going to be used. You only put valuable ores through the fire to refine them to their purest form. Therefore, if God is sending you through the fire, then He must believe you are very valuable.
Fourth, even in anger God sends you through the fire to remove dross. Notice in the verse above that God sent Israel through the fire in fury. Though they were in the fire because of God's anger, the fire would still purify His people. Likewise, even if God is sending you through the fire in anger, you must realize that He is doing this to make you useful to Him again.
Christian, don't fight the fires that God sends you through. Whether these fires are to improve or punish, the fire is still going to purify you. If you don't fight the fires of your life but allow them to help you remove dross that you have collected, then you will see God can use you in a greater way than before the fire. Don't fight the fire, but let it do its purifying work in your life.