REFINING FIRE

REFINING FIRE!

Isa 48:8-13

8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.

12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.

           Willingly ignorant, stubbornly unyielding and morally deaf, Israel was about to learn why they had suffered so much affliction. Like the old Smith Barney commercial says, “they earned it!” They earned it through their convoluted system of values which praised the gods of power, prowess and possessions.

           Our society has little patience for those in second place and there is a general disrespect for the elderly because they seem to be unable or unwilling to keep pace with the blazing download of information. They are out of date and out of touch with a reality that has just now changed! We are now suffering the emptiness which invariably results from the opium of a sustained string of successful accomplishments.

           C. S. Lewis in his The Problem of Pain said that affliction is God’s megaphone to a morally deaf world. It must be so because our world is now experiencing both corruption and affliction. God has dealt us unrest, illness, failure and want. It seems we can no longer manipulate circumstances for a favorable outcome. Our god of self has failed us and it is an enlightening thing.

           God will not share his glory with another. When Saul was strong he persecuted the church but when he was confronted by a mighty God and became weak and blind Paul built the church. Paul learned a valuable lesson but he had to learn it in the furnace of affliction.

2 Cor 12:9-10

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

           Our God is a mighty God. He measures the heavens with just his right hand and when he calls to the stars they assemble as a troupe (Isaiah 48:13).

God of Wonders let me today see Thy glory and not compete with it. AMEN