Take away the dross

[toad]

“We are always in the forge, or on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.”…………….. Henry Ward Beecher

“Take away the dross from the silver, and it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.”
Proverbs 25:4 NKJ

Before metal can be put in the forge to be heated, so that it is ready to be shaped on the anvil, it must first spend some time in the crucible. A crucible is a container that can withstand extreme heat where metal ore’s are heated and melted. In the process of heating the metals, the impurities found in the ore’s come to the surface as the molten metal gets hotter and hotter. These impurities are called dross, and they are scraped off as they are forced to the top. The metal is heated again and again as the impurities are removed. I am sure that there are methods of refining that leave metals in a pure form, but the precious metals that I have seen will have stamped on them a percentage, like 99% pure. I take that it is very difficult to remove completely all the impurities. That does not mean that the metals are any less useful or beautiful. Solomon wrote the proverb about removing the dross from the silver and I believe that he knew exactly what he was talking about. Solomon had more precious metals than anyone else alive at that time. He had so much silver that he didn’t even bother to count it. It was just stored in heaps. You can read about this in 1 Kings 10:21. I am able to relate to the crucible, the forge and the anvil in my life today. I still find myself after being heated in the forge, and shaped on the anvil so that I am of use to God, to be taken back to the crucible from time to time to have the dross removed. When I became a Christian it would have been easier if God had removed all the impurities at that time, but that did not happen. At the very instant I was born-again I was 100% pure, but the very next instant my thoughts brought in some impurities. God loved me so much that I was given complete use of my free will. And this has been the source of my impurities. My life before being born-again was totally spent in the crucible. The temperatures were not always extremely hot so I became accustomed to the heat. As my life of “self-will run riot” continued to flourish and alcohol and drugs became a major factor in fueling the fires of life, I became miserably uncomfortable as the impurities of my life came to the surface. When I became willing to surrender, God started removing some of the dross as I became useful to be of service. Through the choices that I am free to make, I find myself back in the crucible from time to time. It’s part of the process of being forged and shaped to be of use. Today I am grateful for the heat in my life that allows the impurities to come to the surface. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself…………….JRE

“Such is the paradox of A.A. regeneration: strength arising out of complete defeat and weakness, the loss of one’s old life as a condition for finding a new one.”
BILL W.……………A.A. Come Of Age, page 46