Refined - Finding Joy in the Midst of the FireSample

The children of Israel had been under bondage for 400 years as slaves, and they had endured cruel and heartless conditions under Egyptian rule. God was about to do a great work in their midst through Moses. Moses was a man of impatience and anger; he had killed an Egyptian who had been beating one of the Hebrew slaves. Moses then spent forty years in the wilderness hiding from Pharaoh and tending his father-in-law’s sheep. A wilderness experience has the capacity to devalue a human in his own estimation; a wilderness experience also holds the ability to incite the fictional notion that God is unable to use a person who is a wilderness-dweller. If your wilderness has destroyed your hope and joy, perhaps it is time for you to dream again. Perhaps it is time for you to meet your God in a fire. If the wilderness has been your spiritual address for far too long, this is an exciting Scripture for you! God heard. God remembered. God saw. God took notice! Because we serve a God who never changes, you can be sure that God has heard your particular groaning and prayers. God hasn’t forgotten His promises to you. God sees what you’re going through, and God has taken notice of your individual life. When you mistakenly believe and outrageously feel that you are a victim of your circumstances and that you have been a wilderness-dweller far too long, always remember that you serve a God who listens, remembers, sees, and He is taking note of the things that concern you! Whenever God is preparing to do a great work through a man or woman at their moment in history, often they must spend some time in the wilderness in order to refine their perception of who God is. An encounter with the Silversmith and with the fire is usually an important stop in the wilderness journey. His only motive in visiting the fire with you is to rid you of impurities and to see His reflection in your significant life. The Silversmith who is holding you up for inspection has heard your cries, He remembers His promises to you, He sees what you have been through, and He has taken notice of your precious life! The transformation of time spent in the fire always prepares a vessel of the Lord for a greater work.