Celebrate the Tough Times
Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel - Proverbs 25:4
I spent over three years working with a company that produced aluminum through a smelting process. The smelting process uses heat to extract a metal. In this instance the company was referred to as a secondary aluminum smelter because they extracted aluminum from metal previously used for another purpose i.e. recycling.
The smelting process was simple yet complicated. Put metal in a furnace, heat the metal to a point where the aluminum floats, then pour out the aluminum into a mold. In the mold most of the remaining impurities float to the top (known as dross). Scrape off the dross and you are left with almost pure aluminum.
When smelting, one of the measurements used is known as yield. Yield is a calculation of the amount of metal put in the furnace compared to the amount of aluminum recovered. The more impurities on the front end the less aluminum received on the back end. In other words there is a lot more process required to recover the aluminum.
The aluminum that was once pure became impure when it was mixed with other metal. The fire produces heat, which softens the metal. Since aluminum melts at a lower temperature, it floats to the surface allowing it to be separated more easily. The smelting process, therefore, separates the good metal (aluminum) from the impurities so the aluminum can be used again.
Are you picking up on where I’m going with this?
It doesn't matter what you've done, what bad habits you have, or what pain is in your past, through Christ Jesus' redeeming grace and mercy you can be made good again and be used to his glory. While we all are offered immediate forgiveness, the process and effort required to separate and get rid of our bad habits (impurities) will depend on how many impurities there are. There will also be some collateral damage, suffering, as we work to repair the damages we created. This has nothing to with God's forgiveness of us, that's instant and permanent. But the forgiveness from others whom we hurt is a different story. In some cases, there will also be suffering simple because others will turn against us because we turned to Christ.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romans 5:1-5
Hard times, confusing times, times of intense pressure, when we feel most defeated, those are the times when God can separate our not so great character traits (impurities) from our pure characteristics. It’s when, if we let him, God refines us and prepares us for another use. It’s when God pulls out the silver within us and prepares us into a vessel to do his good work.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them [separated them] from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them [refined them], and delivered them [separated them] from their destruction [impurities]. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! - Proverbs 107:19-22.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7
My friends, when the pressures of life intensify, rejoice. Not about the circumstances but rejoice in knowing you are being refined, renewed, and prepared for a greater purpose so impactful you can’t even begin to imagine. Your circumstances will strengthen you, inspire you, and be used to impact the lives of others around you, some of whom you won’t even know about until you meet in heaven on the streets of gold…if you choose to see your circumstances as an opportunity to grow closer to God and to be an encouragement to others.
For what it’s worth, it takes more than 2,000 degrees of heat and over 700K pounds per square inch of pressure to create a diamond. That's some serious pressure with an amazing end result.
