Day 2988 – Forged By Fire | 365daysofmarriage

One of my favorite pictures of growing in Christ, and life really, is the gold/silver and dross scraping. To purify gold/silver, you have to turn up the heat to get the crap out; the dross. After a round of high heat, the smith scrapes away a layer of the dross. This process repeats until the smith can see their reflection in the precious metal (check out this article for more info). This has always been my go to picture of the hard times in life. When an angry outburst shows me just how dark my heart can be, when an embarrassing moment show how deep my pride problem goes. I try to remember this when I’m looking down on myself.

It seems that most of us these days want an easy life. We don’t want to fight with anyone. We don’t want our car to break down. We don’t want to work too hard. We want to have time to sit back and relax. But live in this world for a few years, and you’ll quickly realize, you will be met with challenges, you will be met with hardships, and you will be met with devastating experiences. I think the sooner we can look at these things as part of the growth process, the sooner we’ll live in a state of joyful endurance. A mountain to climb isn’t an obstacle, it is a chance to strengthen your legs. The loss of a loved one reminds us to embrace those who are still here even tighter. A tough experience will mean I am stronger on the other side.

How have you been forged by fire and grown as a result?

This isn’t a purifying process, but a glass factory, those fires are pretty hot though!