refiner’s fire
I grew up hearing the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was always taught as an example of praising God regardless of our circumstances. A reminder that we should never bow down to the things of this world. While the story is a reminder of that, it is also a reminder of God’s permanent presence in our lives. Many of you have probably heard this story. For those of you who haven’t, let me give you a quick run down. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship the golden image as declared by the king, Nebuchadnezzar. As a result of their refusal to bow down, King Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the fiery furnace (which he ordered to heat 7x hotter than normal. yikes.) As the three men were thrown into the fire, a fourth one appeared. Everyone outside of the furnace was confused. Not only were there, now, four men, but they were also “walking in the midst of the fire.” The fire had no power over their bodies, and they came out unscathed.
How amazing is it that those three men walked out of a furnace that was heated seven times hotter and killed the men who put them in the fire? I find it difficult to wrap my head around it. But as I went back through the story and did a deep dive, I saw a beautiful example of God’s refining fire.
I can imagine that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t thrilled to go into the fire. They were probably terrified and disappointed that they were even in the situation, to begin with. However, they also knew that there was nothing for them to fear. They knew they served a God that they could have complete trust and faith in to rescue them. There are so many things in this world that are demanding our attention and even our worship. These things don’t always have our best interest in mind. We experience hurts, losses, threats, and disappointments from the things in this world.
God uses every threat, hurt, and loss to refine, grow, and teach us to rely on him and him alone. God takes each disappointment and meets us in the fiery furnace of life’s hurts, as he did with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The furnace represents the refiner’s purifying fire, and once we go through it, we come forth as gold. Refine means to remove impurities or unwanted elements. Without refinement, these impurities remain in our hearts. The only way to remove them is to go through the refining fire.
I remember having a conversation with a close friend a couple years ago, talking about refinement. She told me she had prayed a simple prayer to God– she prayed, “Lord, refine me.” It’s stuck with me after all this time. Previously, I never even thought about refinement and what it might mean. But I think it’s such a bold, brave, and beautiful prayer to pray. To invite God in and ask him to refine our hearts.
It’s bold, brave, and beautiful because going through the refiner’s purifying fire is not a fun process. It’s painful and requires a strong faith in God, but man is it SO worth it. Job 23:10 says that we come forth as gold. We go in as impure and full of unwanted things, and we come out as pure gold.
When we are in the middle of the fire, it’s easy to believe that God has abandoned us. Spoiler alert: He hasn’t and He never will. In Daniel 3:25, it says that God was walking in the “midst of the fire” with the three men. God came down and was in the fire WITH them. How powerful is that? God is never going to leave us in the midst of the refiner’s purifying fire. He is the ultimate refiner. Without God, there is no refinement.
My prayer is that you would see the beauty in the pain of refinement. That your heart would experience the refiner’s purifying fire, and you would come forth as gold. Giving God complete surrender of your life means complete surrender of your heart, and with surrender comes the removal of the world’s impurities and unwanted elements– refinement.
