We talk a lot about the fire.

The hard season.

The waiting.

The uncertainty.

The thing we wish God would take away.

We call it a refining season, and sometimes that language is comforting. Other times, it can feel a little cliché.

We’ve been taught that when we’re in the fire, something beautiful is coming. There’s a refining process that produces fruit.

But when we’re actually in the fire, it doesn’t always feel like that’s the case.

The fire can be painful, hot, and intense.

It can test us and push us further than we ever thought we could go.

And throughout the process, we’re left wondering, “How long is this going to take?” or, maybe even a more pressing question, “Why is this even happening at all?”

That’s one reason I’ve been so drawn to Malachi 3 lately. In Malachi 3:1–4, we’re given a picture of the Lord as a refiner and purifier of silver:

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. ² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ 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, ⁴ and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.”

When we talk about being refined by God, it’s easy to make the fire the main character.

But the fire isn’t the focus.

The Refiner is.

The Refiner Sits

Malachi gives us an image of God sitting as the refiner. Why did the Scripture specify God sitting?

When working with precious metals, a refiner doesn’t simply throw metal into a fire and walk away.

The refining process takes time, attention, and presence. The picture we’re given of God in Malachi 3 is one of consistency and availability. He sits because the refining requires constant attention, carefully watching the metal and removing impurities throughout the process.

This means that God is not absent from the refining process. Even in your toughest seasons, you may feel alone, but know you are not abandoned. God is right there with you, giving you His full attention, carefully watching, and removing impurities so you come out on the other side as a new creation.

The Refiner is the Active One

There’s another detail in Malachi 3 that I don’t want to miss.

The Refiner is the One doing the work. He’s purifying, refining, and restoring.

The metal isn’t responsible for figuring out how to become pure.

The Refiner is the One who’s responsible for what happens to the metal throughout the process.

Sometimes, when we’re met with hard seasons in our lives, we try to do as much as we can to make life “easier.”

We change schedules, priorities, and lifestyles to accommodate what we think we need to get through hard seasons. And sometimes, changes like this are necessary. Sometimes, we walk through things that require us to change from the outside in.

But there are also times when God wants to change us from the inside out, and what He requires isn’t more church attendance, volunteering, or hard work. Instead, what He requires is for us to be with Him, to sit in His presence and get to know Him.

In Psalm 51:16-17, David writes:

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart You, God, will not despise.”

Church attendance is important.

Volunteering is essential.

Hard work is necessary.

But these verses show that God desires our hearts. He desires for us to bring our brokenness to Him, not bury it with more tasks.

The Refiner Can Be Trusted

This may be what makes refining so uncomfortable for us.

We like to be in control, but when it comes to refining, as we mentioned previously, we’re not the ones calling the shots. We don’t get to set the temperature or decide how long the process lasts. We simply go through the process while God is working.

Refining requires us to trust the One who is doing the refining, and this is especially hard to do when we 1) don’t know the Refiner and 2) don’t understand the refining process.

If we don’t know the Refiner, our Heavenly Father, then it will be impossible to trust Him. However, the more that we get to know about Him, the easier it is to trust Him. This is why Bible reading and study are so important. The Bible is the main text we have to learn all about who the Refiner is.

If we don’t understand the refining process, it can also be hard to trust the Refiner. Even if we don’t understand whysomething is happening, we can understand what is happening.

When we go through the refining process, we may not be able to say, “This is exactly why God is allowing me to go through this!” but what we can know is that God is in control, He is with us, and we will come out on the other side better than before.

We may not understand, but we can trust the Refiner. The process may be difficult and uncomfortable, but through it all, we can know God is actively working and available, and as we take a step closer to Him, He takes a step closer to us.

A Few Things to Sit With

As you spend some time in Malachi 3 this week, consider these questions:

• Where am I most tempted to focus on the fire instead of the Refiner?
• What does this passage teach me about God’s character?
• Is there something God may be inviting me to surrender?
• What would it look like to trust Him with the parts of this process I don’t understand?
• Where have I seen God’s faithfulness in a difficult season?

Take your time with this. Read Malachi 3:1-4 slowly and frequently. Take in what it says about the Refiner and the purification process. Note what that means for you and your life.

I pray that as you study God’s Word more deeply this week, you’ll get to know the Refiner more intimately.