[Steve Myers] Life is a crucible. I heard that the other day, and I thought I knew what a crucible was, but I thought I should look that up because it wasn't right there at the forefront of my mind. The crucible is that thing that they pour hot gold or silver that they've melted. They pour it into this little kind of a container. And that container, sometimes it's like a spoon like kind of a thing that scoops out the gold or the silver because it separates it from all the dross. It separates it all from the impurity. And so, that crucible is that thing that they fill with that melted gold or silver, and then they poured into a mold. And of course, that crucible holding that hot liquid is not affected by it. And so they can manipulate that golden silver because they get rid of the junk and the impurities because the crucible is just solid and is not impacted by the heat of that gold or silver.

Now, as I thought about life being a crucible, how would that impact us in our thinking? Because, you know, certainly there are challenges in life. And one of the Psalms or one of the Proverbs is what came to mind when I thought about life being a crucible. In the Proverbs chapter 17:3, it actually uses that word crucible in some of the translations. Now my New King James says this, "The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts." The refining pot. That's the crucible. That's where that hot, liquid gold or silver is poured. And here it's pointing to the fact that the Lord purifies the hearts or some translations say, "The same way gold and silver are refined in the crucible, the Lord purifies your heart and tests by the tests and trials of life."

By the tests and trials of life. That's where they get that idea life is a crucible because we go through difficulties. And I think all of us will face crucible moments because it's really inevitable.

It's a part of life. We're subject to the experiences, and the challenge, and the trials, and the difficulties that may come. And we face many of those things it seems of late and whether it's terrible wildfires, or whether it's hurricanes, or whether it's COVID, whatever it may be, personal difficulties, and trials, and health problems. The crucible of life seems to be inevitable for all of us.

But here, the Proverbs point to how we choose to deal with that crucible because it seems like it's going to come. Those moments are going to come. And so we can be like a crucible and endure that severe trial. And when those different elements interact in the crucible, the interesting part is, good can come from it. Purity can come from it. And so in that way, life is a crucible when we face these challenges. If we turn to God, we can allow Him to purify us like that gold is purified in the crucible or like that silver is purified.

And so even the difficulties can ultimately impact us for good because that's exactly what God wants to come from all of this is He wants us to be refined so ultimately, we're like Christ.

One other passage that came to mind in this regard is one that's found in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 41:10, God tells us this, "Fear not, I'm with you." You see, definitely when the hot, difficult trials are on us, it's gonna be a challenge. But God says, "Don't be dismayed. I'm your God, I will strengthen you. Yes, I'll help you. I'll uphold you with my righteous right hand."

So even in the midst of the crucible, when the heart trials of life are poured out on us, God can use that to bring us to purity to be more like Jesus Christ. And so never forget when we're going through the challenges that God is there and ultimately, He promises it could turn out for our good.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.