Are You in a Refining Season?

“For you, Oh God, tested us; you REFINED us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our back. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but then you brought us to a place of abundance.” Psalm 66:10-12

“I don’t like this season.” That was a statement I recently told my husband because, in all reality, the last 6-8 months have just been really hard. To be honest, part of the hard is because I haven’t liked who I saw in me during this season. It’s brought to light a lot of things in me that needed refining or removing, in order that I might reflect the character of Christ. As I’ve sat with the Lord and talked about the “hard” in this season, I’ve realized that God’s Word is full of reminders of why “refining” is necessary in the Christian life.

The definition of refine, according to dictionary.com, is to remove impurities or unwanted elements; to purify; to free from impurities.

The definition of “refine” reminded me of something that my sweet grandmother would do when she was going to cook dried beans for our family meal. She would begin the process by pouring the beans into a bowl and covering them with water. Then every few minutes, before she started cooking them, she would stir all the beans, and the “unfavorable” beans would float to the top. She would then remove the "unfavorable” beans from the bowl and get rid of them in order to cook the best beans that she would serve her family.  

Although this illustration is simplistic, I often feel the Lord allows refining times in our lives that HE might “stir” us up a bit and show the character flaws that might need removing from our lives: the ones that do not reflect the character of Christ.

Recently, I read an article about Michelangelo and his creation of the statue of DAVID. After his completion of DAVID, someone asked him what his technique for chiseling this masterpiece was, and his reply was, “I simply chiseled away all the parts that were not DAVID.”

Just like the chipping away of the marble produced DAVID, I feel like the refining seasons in our Christian life are producing in us something that’s hard to see right now. The Lord chips away at the many things that might not reflect Him, in order that HE might produce in us His characteristics. I’ll be the first to admit that the refining process is never fun, but as Romans 5:3-4 says, “Not only so, but we also know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character, hope.”

Just as Michelangelo chiseled away the beautiful marble to reveal the incredible statue of David, I know that the hard we feel in our lives is being used by the Lord to purify and reveal in us the character of Christ.

Romans 8:18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us!”

1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief and all kinds of trials, these have come so that your faith- of greater worth that gold, which perishes even though REFINED by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

So, in this season of refining, I am reminded that the chiseling taking place in my life is revealing God’s purpose and plan for me, which is to reveal the character of Christ in me!

Hang in there, friend! This season doesn’t “define” you – it “refines” you for HIS GLORY!