By Allen White
I took an old class ring to a “Cash for Gold” place. It wasn’t worth as much as I’d hoped. After listening to all of those advertisements, I really expected ten times more. Thus, the power of advertising drew me in.
The ring was in good shape. It actually was gold. But, it wasn’t as much gold as I had thought. It was 10 caret gold, which means the ring was actually on 41.7 percent gold. There was actually far more other metal in the ring than gold. They only wanted the gold. Otherwise, it would be called “Cash for Nickel and Zinc.”
Once the ring went to the refinery, it was put through the fire. All of the gold was separated from the other metals.
Have you ever known someone beautiful who thought they were ugly? Have you ever encountered someone rich who thought they were poor? Have you ever experienced another’s brilliance only to discover he thinks he’s dumb? Have you ever met a redeemed person who wallowed in their fallenness? These are the impurities God wants to remove from our hearts.
Our character is forged in the furnace of life. While I don’t have much appreciation for unpleasant circumstances, I do value what God does in me as a result. I’m not running into crises and “counting it all joy” like James, but I do understand how God can use difficult situations and difficult people to change me.
Who are you about to “vote” out of your life like an episode of Survivor? Who would you cause you to look the other way or duck behind the shelves at Wal-mart? While you are probably not going to run up and hug them, God has put that person in your life for a reason.
God loves you too much to leave you with the character you have. He will do whatever it takes to make you more like Him.
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