:: To Worship Him ::

 

         ”For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.”  (Malachi 3:2b)

 

   Elena Bonner, wife of Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, says that as he wrote his memoirs, she typed, edited, and nursed the work, doing everything she could to make sure it survived seizure by the government.  Sakharov worked on his memoirs in Gorky, rewriting sections because they kept vanishing.  Then one day he met Elena at the train station and with trembling lips told her, “They stole it.”  She says he looked like a man who had just learned of the death of the closest of friend.  But after a few days, Sakharov returned to his work.  According to his wife, each time he rewrote his memoirs there was something new–something better.

 

   The Lord has certain ways of preparing His people for service.  His goal is to turn our lives upside down, inside out and refine us into jewels and the most precious metals.  In Malachi 3:3-4, the Word says “He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.  Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.”  The refiner’s fire accomplished its purpose and work when the heat is turned up to extremely high temperatures.  It breaks down the metal in order for it to become moldable and able to shape.  The work is not fully accomplished until the temperatures reaches a certain high level. 

 

   So it is in our lives.  We had rather not have to go through the process but until we do there is no gain.  As the saying goes, ‘no pain, no gain.’   Trials will surely come and we will always have to go back to the process of life as Sakharov did.  He continued to write and rewrite, even though discouraged.   Discouragement will surely come to us after our losses and trials,  but as we allow the Lord to do His work, our rough edges will be softened.  Our job, as someone said, is to avoid trying to blow out the fire.  Good point!