There is a little flower,

A little flower with silver crest and golden eye

That welcomes every changing hour

And weathers every sky

-James Montgomery (A Field Flower)

"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."   Malachi 3:3

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this meant about the character and nature of God. 

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.  She didin't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining 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 all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says "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 not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.  If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment.  Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

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

This very moment, someone needs to know that God is watching over them.  And that whatever they are going through, they'll be a better person in the end.

Daisies infinite uplift in praise

their little growing hands

O'er every hill

That under heaven expands

-Ebeneezer Elliott