Bible Reading: Isaiah 47, 48 & 49: 1 Thessalonians 4
“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” Isaiah 48:10 (KJV)
Iron instruments are produced through the furnace. The goldsmith, coppersmith and blacksmith use the fire furnace to heat gold, copper or iron to become soft in order to sharpen and turned into a beautiful product of great value. The difference between the raw gold and the beautiful bracelet, ear and hand rings of gold is fire or the furnace of fire. God is the moulder of our lives and like the goldsmith He uses affliction as our refining fire, to change our hardened state to an easily millable form to enable Him produce a beautiful piece that He had in mind.
Before commencement of heating and refining, the goldsmith has an image of the intended product in his mind. In the same vein God has predestined us a product in His mind which He achieves through the furnace of affliction. During the process of refining, the blacksmith applies the hammer and chisels to achieve his desired result. Affliction as fire causes us to be softened and millable. It produces change in us from a hardened state to a soften or liquid state to enable God mould us to the image He has in His mind. No wonder the bible say concerning Manasseh, the stubborn King of Judah, “And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” 2 Chronicles 33:12 (KJV). It is these afflictions that the bible referred to when it said “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all” Psalm 34:19 (KJV).
The affliction of the righteous is a school of knowledge and wisdom. God uses the instrument of affliction to redirect our mind to Him. The bible says in Isaiah 30:20 (KJV), “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers.” Concerning affliction as a school of lesson in the ways of God, Hosea 5:15 (KJV) says “ I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” We are raw materials in the hands of the Almighty, He uses the fire of affliction to make us millable in order to produce adorable ornament out of us. As a child of God, affliction is not an end but a process of refinement. However, in our affliction God is always present though it looks as if He is very far from us. He is working out His intention in us. The iron does not enjoy the fire that turns it to a molten state in the workshop of the blacksmith, but become an instrument of display and of great value and accomplishment, so also is our life in the hand of God.
Prayer: Father, humble me in the times of affliction to see your hands at work in my life.
Brother Joel Ezeugo