But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers soap.
"Many of us have felt the heat of the fire and the crushing blow of a sculpting hammer. We frequently question, “Why me?” We yearn to be free of the refiner’s fire. We can’t think of it as anything good.
What good can come from having health challenges or financial challenges? from the loss of a job, a loved one, or a marriage? from having responsibilities for young children, elderly parents, or ward members? from someone you know who has doubts and questions, even if that someone is you? But now our trials are seen in a new, refining light. That fire is real, as is its purpose. Elder Quentin L. Cook reassured us that the “qualities of character and righteousness that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God” (“The Songs They Could Not Sing,” Oct. 2011 general conference).
So what good can come for those who have felt or currently feel the fire? The answer is profound and overwhelming. We will be exactly what He wants us to be. And we will be exactly where He wants us to be. We will be His creation, in His presence."
As God changes your perspective, you will begin to see less of what is wrong and more of what evidences God's refining work in your life -- God bringing weaknesses to the surface so you ultimately will be stronger, more like him and more reflective of him. God's plan is not to make you more independent or more self-sufficient. His plan is to make you holy and dependent servants of the refiner who desires to give us lives far beyond what we ever could imagine. In the heat, we see his power displayed and we become vessels for his glory and reflectors of his image to the world -- and that is a life worth living, no matter your circumstances!
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purged them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord and offering in righteousness.
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Psalm 51:10
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
I am particularly comforted by these messages because I am just tired of trying to fix myself, to be good enough, to feel like I have to repent unceasingly when I am actually "Trying To Be Like Jesus". These two scriptures remind me that I have just to make myself available and the Lord will do His transformative work. He know me. He knows I want to be just like Him.
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This beautiful video reminds us of the Lord's hand in our lives. It reminds us that we are never alone, that He will use the experiences we have to mold us and to refine us.
"Many of us have felt the heat of the fire and the crushing blow of a sculpting hammer. We frequently question, “Why me?” We yearn to be free of the refiner’s fire. We can’t think of it as anything good.
What good can come from having health challenges or financial challenges? from the loss of a job, a loved one, or a marriage? from having responsibilities for young children, elderly parents, or ward members? from someone you know who has doubts and questions, even if that someone is you? But now our trials are seen in a new, refining light. That fire is real, as is its purpose. Elder Quentin L. Cook reassured us that the “qualities of character and righteousness that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God” (“The Songs They Could Not Sing,” Oct. 2011 general conference).
So what good can come for those who have felt or currently feel the fire? The answer is profound and overwhelming. We will be exactly what He wants us to be. And we will be exactly where He wants us to be. We will be His creation, in His presence."
The Refiner's Fire - Mormon Message Video
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I found this article from a newspaper called the Midland Reporter-Telegraph from Midland, Texas, a small community about half way between El Paso and Fort Worth. The whole article is worth reading but I was mostly touched by the simple reminder that we sometimes need to change our perspective in order to see evidences of God's refining work in our lives. I seem to need constant paradigm shifts in my efforts to draw close to my Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.
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The refiner’s fire is real, and qualities of character and righteousness that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God.
Elder Orson F. Whitney asked and answered this question: “To whom do we look, in days of grief and disaster, for help and consolation? … They are men and women who have suffered, and out of their experience in suffering they bring forth the riches of their sympathy and condolences as a blessing to those now in need. Could they do this had they not suffered themselves?
“… Is not this God’s purpose in causing his children to suffer? He wants them to become more like himself. God has suffered far more than man ever did or ever will, and is therefore the great source of sympathy and consolation.” (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, p. 7.)
This is a favorite. What more could we want than to return to the presence of God and see that we are more like Him than when we left His presence; that our time on earth had done exactly what He had planned for us! I suspect that this goes way beyond what we even imagine. Every experience is helping us to learn and to grow in ways unimaginable. We are absorbing information and experiences that we cannot even recall that will open to us when we pass through the veil. We are always being molded whether we know it or not.
Moroni 7:48
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray under the Father with all the energy of heart that you may be filled with this love, which He hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of His Son, Jesus Christ; that you may become the sons of God; that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as He is pure. Amen
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Elder Cook here reinforces the concept that the Lord is working in our lives to perfect and purify us. That thought makes me so happy!
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I was humbled by this thought from President Faust's talk in 1979. We talk about how adversity helps us to grow. But he is likening our adversity to what the Savior suffered and suggesting that one thing the Savior does for all of us is to comfort us in our sorrows because He knows what we are going through. If we want to be like the Savior, do we not want to suffer also and be able to be someone else's source of sympathy and consolation. I don't know why this touched me so much as I read it this morning. My eyes filled with tears instantly as I read his words. Yes, I want to be filled with compassion and understanding. I just never thought about how we become that kind of a person.
“… Is not this God’s purpose in causing his children to suffer? He wants them to become more like himself. God has suffered far more than man ever did or ever will, and is therefore the great source of sympathy and consolation.” (Improvement Era, Nov. 1918, p. 7.)
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1 Peter 1:7
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and Glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ
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