That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for interest beyond her curiousity about the process of reining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest to burn away the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a spot; then she thought again about the verse, "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.
The man answered that yes, he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If it was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment and then asked the silversmith, "How do ypu know when the silver is refined?"
He answered, "That's easy--- when I see my image in it."

If you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that Goe has you in His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

Jenn, I was a jeweler for many years. Those verses about refining have very special meaning to me, too. There are actually many process to take silver from a lump, sheet or wire, and turn it into something beautiful.

I would take a piece of wire and measure it and then cut it with tin shears, or saw it with a saw. Then I would bend and shape it with a mallet or hammer. Then I would use pliers to pull the joints together. Then I would put flux on it, then heat it with a 2000 F torch and solder it together. Then it would go piping hot into an acid bath to get rid of the fire scale or impurities. Then I would have to file it, and reshape it with a hammer. If I used a stone or gem, it would require special process to press the silver over the stone, including very expensive glue to hold it in place. Then I would have to buff it with Tripoli, to remove all the surface marks and light scratches. Then I would use a second buffing - red rouge to make it shine beautifully. Finally, a bath of ammonia to remove the dust and grit from the buffing. (Casting is another whole long set of processes and even more work!)

But the process might not even be finished then. If someone needed a bigger size ring, I could hammer it against a steel mandrel to make it bigger. It it need to be made smaller - then cut and repeat all of the above. But silver tarnishes, and gold wears, so even then, it has to be brought back to the jeweler to be buffed again.

The process of refining silver or gold is a long, hard one. But in the hands of a Master jeweler - it is a source of beauty and craftsmanship. How wonderful to thing we are being refined to not just reflect the master's image, but to be a thing of great beauty and wonder for God's glory.

I've been in the fire the last few days, but Praise the Lord! I'm out now! And I know He has done some refining and purifying in my life. If you're interested the details are in my first 3/17/12 journal entry.

I hope to share this with my mom. Thank you. I don't see how any analogy could fit better.

My brother and his wife and their adult children are in the fire.

I can even smell the fire it "tells" me beware.

So much goes on in this world we do not see.

I think this is exactly where I am. I do not see what God is making me into but it is taking every bit of strength I have to hang on, and I going thru this alone, with God of course, but you know what I am saying. I have you all over the Internet but in the physical, I am alone in this fire.
Karen, you said you are coming out of yours. I wonder how long this takes. I guess it's different for everyone. By coming out do you mean getting stronger or getting a view of what you've become?