Years ago when King George was visiting a pottery plant, two special vases were shown to him. Both were made of the same material and both had been painted in the same style and manner, but one was a beautiful ornament, and the other blurred and unsightly. The reason?  One had taken the fire and the other had not.

How can we be gold, when we are but clay? We are clay but in God’s eyes, we are gold in the making. He takes just common clay and works on it until it is fit for the Master’s house. That clay that is marred and imperfect He takes it and makes it into gold. It is a miracle from God that He can take the vilest sinner and make Him pure, can turn around the most stubborn people and develop them into vessels of honor fit for the King’s house.
God molds His children into the image of Christ in the furnace of sorrow and suffering: “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).

He prepares us by trying us. “The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts” (Proverbs 17:3). Jeremiah 9:7 demonstrates this: “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them.” There is a melting associated with the time of trying. It is the fire that melts.

Why the TRY?
II Chronicles 32:31 answers this question: “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him [Hezekiah], to TRY him, that he might know all that was in his heart.” Although God left Hezekiah, He was still watching him. He was not totally alone, for he was under observation by God. This is one of the feelings of the trying. You cry, “God, where are You?” Although He may be silent, He is there watching you, even though He has removed Himself to a shadowed place.

God works in different ways to prepare His children for their heavenly home. He will let them to walk through the fire [but He will be with them as He was with the 3 Hebrew children], and He will also allow crushing blows to be administered to them so the shine can be made visible!

Years ago, the world’s most valuable diamond was found in an African mine. It was to be given to the king of England to blaze in his crown. When it was found, the diamond was shapeless. A lapidary notched it, and struck it with a hard blow from his instrument. For months he had studied that blow. The lines of cleavage of the diamond had been planned with minutest care. The blow brought the gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance and beauty. Sometimes the Lord, in unerring wisdom, allows the blows of sorrow and suffering to fall on us that we might shine with brighter luster when He comes to “make up [His] jewels.” It is in the crucible of sorrow and suffering that God transforms us “from glory to glory,” and grows us into Christlikeness. ~Told by Dr. Harry A. Ironside

Just remember when the furnace of affliction gets hot and the overwhelming blows of life threaten to crush and defeat you, God is going to turn your teardrops into diamonds and your pain into gold.

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