Hot Stuff

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

Who in the Leaping Butterfly blog world has experienced a hot flash? I have, had, and still having! Tell me…why does it take years to get through this process? As if the emotional heat isn’t hot enough at this stage it can easily be combined with unexpected buckets of ‘Gatorade’ from head to toe.

But things could be worse—I could be a piece of gold. I’ve heard of a process called the refinement of gold, but had never seen it until today; thanks to all our friends at YouTube.com. I encourage you to take a look too.

In a nutshell, the scrap metal is placed in a crucible for a torch melt. Once the metal has melted into a liquid consistency it is slowly poured into a bowl of cold water. Because the metal drains in droplets, it will form into cornflake-type pieces. Later, the pieces are mixed with Nitric Acid. Soon they form together at the bottom of the bowl as a yellow sponge type substance. The next step is to melt the metal again to remove all traces of water, acid, and alloys. Alloys are a less valuable metal that could be mixed with the purest of gold. It would reduce the quality of greater worth should this final step be left out.

Ever felt like you’re having a meltdown? I have and knock on wood…I’ve gone five whole minutes without one.  But, meltdowns can refine us as long as we surrender to the work of our refiner’s hands. Otherwise, the Refiner may have to turn up the heat to rid us of the alloys in our lives.

“Metal is refined and purified in a furnace; the Lord purifies and tests the heart.” Proverbs 17:3

Thank you, Lord, for my meltdowns. Melt and mold me into whatever you wish, Father. I desire for my heart to be pure, brilliant, and a glorious reflection of You.