Scripture

He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.

~Malachi 3:3, CSB

Quote

It matters little where a man may be at this moment; the point is whether he is growing.

~George MacDonald

Storms are a part of life, an important part. The thing about storms is that they come and go. No storm last forever. I can hear thunder in the background and we are in need of rain. I don’t really want a storm but I do want the rain; yet they often come together. We don’t get up in the morning praying for difficult situations. Most of us pray to avoid them. But God uses difficulty, adversity, and trials to hone and refine us. It is His way of sanding off the rough edges. He is saving us from our sin and our self. This requires suffering and death. It is a process in which we die daily. It is not just the body that is dying, it is the self, that stubborn self-willed ego. As you think back to your youth, you can recall having dreams that you were determined to fulfill and then people got in your way and for one reason or another, your dreams did not materialize. Eventually, you reach a point where you have no will. It is like “Whatever, You want LORD. Your will be done, not mine.”

I think of young Mary; some say she wasn’t even sixteen, maybe as young as fourteen, and yet she prayed “be it unto me according to thy word.” She is basically saying, “Whatever you desire LORD, that is good with me.” I don’t think she ever dreamed of being pregnant without a husband, do you? Yet she accepted God’s will and made it hers by humble submission. How do we moved from the stubborn self-will of a pharaoh to the humble submission of a Mary? The refiners fire. God uses the storms, the trials, the pain and disappointments to trim the fat, to bring the dross to the top so it can be skimmed off and separated from the gold and silver.

It gets hot in summer but in about six weeks it will cool down. We endure the heat with hope and optimism because we know it is coming to an end; it will not last forever.

Extra

The other side of the county is getting rain and we are getting nothing but the good news is I have not worried about it this year. I turned the garden under a few weeks back and June is watering her flowers. The electricity is on and the A/C is working so I don’t have any complaints. I will appreciate the rain when it comes. I am afraid our best chance was yesterday and we got nothing.

Today is hump day and we are already in the middle of August–football in two weeks–unbelievable–time is flying. Charity was better yesterday and she thanks you for the prayers. Keep praying for our cancer warriors. God bless you, have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.

Correction: we are getting a shower, enough to settle the dust.