O Refining Furnace of Heaven, Dearest Father God, You are the perfect Refiner. “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…” (Malachi 3:3). You are not distant or disengaged, but close watching, working, never looking away. In the heat of our trials, in the flames of life’s fiercest tests, You are there holding us in Your sovereign hands with care and purpose. Though the fire burns and the pain lingers, we trust You are not destroying us, but purifying us.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice…” (1 Peter 4:12-13). Forgive us, Lord, for the times we complain when the fire gets hot, when we feel forgotten or overlooked, when we compare our journey to others. “But now, O LORD, you are our Father we are the clay, and you are our potter, we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8). Teach us to count it all joy not because the trial is easy, but because You are doing something eternal in us. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2–4).
You are scraping away pride, melting off selfishness, and shaping us into the likeness of Christ. “And we all are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Help us to see Your face in the midst of the flame. Let us not be consumed by bitterness or despair, but refined into vessels of grace shining with the beauty of Your character. “But he knows the way that I take, when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10). Let our suffering not be wasted, but used to draw others to Your saving love.
Jesus, You were not spared the fire. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3). You bore the cross and tasted every sorrow so we would never walk alone. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses “(Hebrews 4:15). Remind us that You are not punishing us but preparing us. You are not withholding from us but making us whole. You are not distant but watching intently, lovingly, until Your reflection is seen in us.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:28–29).
So today, in the furnace of our frustrations, our grief, our longing we say have Your way, O Refiner. Complete Your work in us. Make us like Your Son, our Savior Jesus.
Amen.