For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap (Malachi 3:2).

The Lord has a specific manner of preparing His people for useful service. God desires to turn His children from rough, hard-edged stones into gems of gold and silver. "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years" (Malachi 3:3). The refiner's fire can only accomplish its purposes when the heat is turned up to extraordinary temperatures. It breaks down the metal in order for it to become moldable and shapeable. Only when the temperatures become at this level can the work be fully accomplished. So it is in our lives.

Until the Lord completes His refining process the offerings we make are not made in righteousness and cannot be acceptable. Thank God that Jesus is our righteousness and that there is no righteousness apart from Him. Still, the Lord continues to purge all that is not of His righteousness out of our lives. This comes through trials that bring each of us to the end of ourselves in order that He may only reflect that which is Himself.

When God takes you through the refiner's fire be encouraged that it is because of His overriding commitment to turn you from a rough, hard-edged stone to a precious metal. He will do this through certain events in your marketplace; your relationships and other circumstances in your life. Our job is to avoid trying to blow out the fire.