Key scripture- “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold (Job 23:10, ESV).

Pastor, James McDonald, says that Job is a man that knew suffering. He absorbed more pain than most of us ever have to imagine. In a single day, Job lost his wealth and all ten of his children. Then he was stripped of his health and honor. Did he have anything left? Sure, a bitter wife who advised him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9) and a handful of self-righteous friends who were “miserable comforters” (16:2).

Yet Job clung to God, he saw past the trial, and by faith declared, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (23:10). Refining hurts, but the result is pure gold. Trials draw sin out of our lives, as illustrated in this description of the refining process. Allow me to give you a little lesson in Gold 101.

First, when gold is being refined, it must be melted. Gold ore is mixed with other metals and impurities when it comes out of the ground. So the goldsmiths crank up the furnaces to 1064ºC (degrees Celsius), the temperature at which gold melts.

The second process is binding. Once the gold is molten, the goldsmiths mix in a special flux to make it more fluid and to bind the impurities together. Then, when they pour the gold into a mold, the impurities, called slag, rise to the top.

Lastly, they separate it. After the gold has cooled, the slag is broken off, and the steps are repeated—sometimes multiple times for greater purity. This process hasn’t changed significantly in thousands of years. Technology hasn’t improved it. God has given us a lasting illustration of His methods with us.

This process of refining gold is what filled Job’s mind as he wrote those words: “when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” Job’s trials were refining him. Your trials are refining you. Do you feel the heat? Do you see the slag rising to the top? The biblical word for slag is sin, and it’s what makes you restless, miserable, fearful, and selfish. Is God drawing the impurities in your life to the surface?

When some people go into the furnace of affliction, it burns them; when others go in, the experience purifies them. If you submit to the Lord, as painful as the crisis may be, your suffering will refine you and make you better. If you resist what God is doing, the furnace will only scorch you.

If the trial is making your faith purer and stronger, if you have not grown bitter toward the Lord, but are loving Him more, then no doubt about it, you “shall come out as gold.”

If you are in a trial right now how are you responding—resisting or submitting? Growing bitter or better?

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, You are a Master Refiner. You use the pain in my life to purify me. Please draw the sin out of my life, and help my faith to grow stronger. I want to love You more. Lord, I admit the refining process hurts, but I know that in order to get all the impurities out of me You have to put me in the fire like gold and refine me. I know, that I know, that I know that You love me, and that You are doing this for my good and Your glory. Father, I praise You for all the difficult trials in my life, because each one is teaching me something about You, and has shown me how much You love me, shown me Your goodness, and gives me the opportunity to taste and see how good You are. I trust You completely. I will get better and not bitter. I also know that my present troubles won’t last very long, yet they will produce a glory that vastly outweighs them and that will last forever. Instead of looking at my troubles, I will continue to fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things I see right now will soon be gone, but the things I cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). I entrust myself into Your hands and I know that I will “come out as gold” for the glory of Your Son, Jesus, my Redeemer, in whose Name I pray, Amen.