2009 – Day 158.June 8 – Crucible For Christ
Passage of the Day: 1st Kings 17: 8-9 … 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
My Journal for Today: Okay, if you’ve been with me these first days of June, Elijah has been taken by God to this quiet place, Cherith, where he was safely away from the limelight of Ahab’s threatening court; and we saw, through Swindoll, that God was using solitude, silence, and obscurity at the brook in Cherith to retool the Prophet for what would lie ahead. Now, in today’s passage, we see God telling Elijah to move on. However, the testing and retooling of Elijah is not over.
I would not have seen it without Swindoll’s teaching help; but the place God leads Elijah next, Zarapeth, is apparently a Hebrew term with a root which means “crucible.” Maybe, as Swindoll points out, there may have been some metal-works plant there; but no matter why the town was named as it way, it’s interesting that this town where Elijah would go was a place where God could turn up the heat of reshaping Elijah’s life to make him even stronger for his work of witness for God which lies ahead.
I agree with Swindoll that God often takes us from crucible to crucible in the process of sanctification in our lives as Christians. And the word picture of a crucible is an apt one; isn’t it? When precious metals are being purified for reshaping into beautiful pieces of jewelry, they are put in a crucible, which is heated to the place where the raw metal is liquefied, causing the “dross” (i.e., impurities) to float to the top, where the master metal-worker can skim off the dross, leaving the purified metal, which is now ready for the reshaping process by a master jeweler.
That’s what God was doing with Elijah; and perhaps that’s what He’s doing in your life. Certainly when I look back over the process of discipleship in my life, I can see that God took me from one crucible and reshaping process to another, many of which were like the quiet brook at Cherith for Elijah, where God used solitude and discipline to reshape me. But other times were more like what Elijah would face in Zarapeth, where the heat was turned up; and in those “crucible” times I had to experience some very tough times so that God could make me more focused in my ability to serve Him. Often, in this process of sanctification, I, like Elijah, was led from crucible to crucible to crucible; and I would wonder when God was going to have me shaped into an image He could use for His glory.
And my friends, if I interpret Phil. 1: 6 [linked here] correctly, that reshaping process will never be over in this life; and I will be taken through the various crucibles of life so that God, the Master Jeweler, can keep remaking (i.e., “completing”) me into that final image when I’m in glory and made over into a more perfected reflection of the Perfect Servant of God, … my Lord Jesus.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, be merciful as You reshape me in the crucibles of life. Amen
Showing posts with label refiner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label refiner. Show all posts
Monday, June 08, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
2009 - Day 12 - Darkness Before The Dawn
January 12, 2009 … Swindoll’s Topic for Today: Darkness Before The Dawn
Passage of the Day: Genesis 40: 20 – 41: 1 20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. 41: 1 … 1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. [emphasis added in bold/red]
My Journal for Today: Yes, we revisit the same passage as was our focus yesterday; but this time the emphasis is on the short phrase in bold above. And my devotional author, Chuck Swindoll, uses the word picture of the process of gold being refined in fire by noting that Joseph had to endure two long, boring, hard years in the fires of this prison while God refined him for Joseph’s life ahead where he would need to be stronger and purer.
There’s no way to short cut the refining process; and we have to face the fact that God is the refiner. He, alone, is in control of the fire and the timing of the refining process; and as Joseph learned, it can be a long and painful process at times, often without any insight as to why the refining has been undertaken in the way it has or for the length of time involved. Also, during the refinement process, it can seem as if nothing is happening.
But something very important is happening. In the fires of life, in God’s timing, as Swindoll points out, “… we are being strengthened; … we are being established; … we are being perfected; … we are being refined into pure gold.” Joseph in these two years of the grind of prison was being refined in purity and shaped for greatness. And God, The Refiner and Shaper, knew exactly what Joseph would need for His, God’s, purpose ahead.
Swindoll reminds his readers in today’s devotional that Joseph was not the only one in the Bible who had to go through The Refiner’s fire. There was Abraham who had to wait on the birth of his son, Isaac. There was Moses who spent 40 years being refined in the desert as a shepherd before he saw the burning bush. And how about Elijah who waited in anguish by that brook; or Noah who waited 120 years for the rain while building that curious arc? And in the New Testament there was Paul who had to spend three tedious years in Arabia being prepared for ministry after being knocked dramatically off his horse on that road to Damascus.
Getting the picture? As Swindoll insightfully points out, for the present time, the dull burn of life may seem like nothing’s happening; but be assured, the Refiner’s fire is at work. And if we submit to the fire, in God’s time and in His way, the dross of sin and self will be burned away, leaving the refined Christlikeness spoken of in Phil. 1: 6. So, I wait … often impatiently; but I wait to let God shape me into His image … for His purposes.
My Prayer Today: I may not understand Your timing or Your process or Your fire, Lord; but I trust that You are shaping me for Your future and Your glory. Amen
Passage of the Day: Genesis 40: 20 – 41: 1 20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. 41: 1 … 1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river. [emphasis added in bold/red]
My Journal for Today: Yes, we revisit the same passage as was our focus yesterday; but this time the emphasis is on the short phrase in bold above. And my devotional author, Chuck Swindoll, uses the word picture of the process of gold being refined in fire by noting that Joseph had to endure two long, boring, hard years in the fires of this prison while God refined him for Joseph’s life ahead where he would need to be stronger and purer.
There’s no way to short cut the refining process; and we have to face the fact that God is the refiner. He, alone, is in control of the fire and the timing of the refining process; and as Joseph learned, it can be a long and painful process at times, often without any insight as to why the refining has been undertaken in the way it has or for the length of time involved. Also, during the refinement process, it can seem as if nothing is happening.
But something very important is happening. In the fires of life, in God’s timing, as Swindoll points out, “… we are being strengthened; … we are being established; … we are being perfected; … we are being refined into pure gold.” Joseph in these two years of the grind of prison was being refined in purity and shaped for greatness. And God, The Refiner and Shaper, knew exactly what Joseph would need for His, God’s, purpose ahead.
Swindoll reminds his readers in today’s devotional that Joseph was not the only one in the Bible who had to go through The Refiner’s fire. There was Abraham who had to wait on the birth of his son, Isaac. There was Moses who spent 40 years being refined in the desert as a shepherd before he saw the burning bush. And how about Elijah who waited in anguish by that brook; or Noah who waited 120 years for the rain while building that curious arc? And in the New Testament there was Paul who had to spend three tedious years in Arabia being prepared for ministry after being knocked dramatically off his horse on that road to Damascus.
Getting the picture? As Swindoll insightfully points out, for the present time, the dull burn of life may seem like nothing’s happening; but be assured, the Refiner’s fire is at work. And if we submit to the fire, in God’s time and in His way, the dross of sin and self will be burned away, leaving the refined Christlikeness spoken of in Phil. 1: 6. So, I wait … often impatiently; but I wait to let God shape me into His image … for His purposes.
My Prayer Today: I may not understand Your timing or Your process or Your fire, Lord; but I trust that You are shaping me for Your future and Your glory. Amen
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