During a women’s Bible Study on the book of Malachi, the group studied chapter three, verse three, which says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This verse puzzled the women and they wondered aloud how this could relate to the role of God in their lives?

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back with the group at their next Bible study session. That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. He was intrigued by her request. No one had ever asked him to do this before, but he gladly acceded to her request. The woman did not mention the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining it.

As the woman stepped into the silversmith’s workplace, she was a little nervous. She watched closely the silversmith as he held a piece of silver in his spoon over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman’s thoughts immediately wandered to God, and she asked herself how could God hold us in such a hot spot? Then she recalled again the verse they were studying at Bible Study, “He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.” This evoked another question. So, she asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined?

The man answered, “yes” and explained that he also had to keep his eye on it the entire time it was in the fire for if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman went silent for a few moments as the words of the silversmith sank in. Then she asked with a slight tremble in her voice, “How do you know when the silver is refined?”

The silversmith smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s the easy part. The silver is refined when I see my image reflected in it.”

Wow!

The woman had the answer to the meaning of the scripture that so intrigued her study group. She couldn’t wait to report this good news back to her group.

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, just remember that God has created you “in His own image” and will watch over you until He sees His image reflected in you.

—Fr. Hugh Duffy