The main end of life is not to do but to become,” F. B. Meyer said. And for this we are being prepared every day. As silver is refined by fire, your heart is often refined in the furnace of sadness. The worst pain of your life can often feel like you’ve been thrown into a fiery furnace with no way out, the flames from the fire may sometimes feel like it is just absolutely too much.  The psalmist said in his sorrow, “We went through fire” (Psalm 66:12).

When you are thrown into the “fire” of life, it is part of God’s refining process. The refining process may be very painful, but it will not destroy you, for the Refiner – God sits by the furnace tending the flame. He will not allow you to be tried beyond  what you are able to endure; it is for your good.

You  may not understand why you have to endure such misery year after year. You may not understand why things that should be easier and simpler have to be so painful and full of thorns. Your ordeals may seem endless and pointless.  Your days may seem  wasted, or so it appears. When you are constantly forced through trial after trial that involve so much suffering, you may feel as if you are not really getting anywhere and you are not doing anything of lasting significance, because you don’t have time to do anything except go through trial of difficulty after trial of difficulty. When you are suffering and having to fight battle after battle you may feel that  you are constantly fighting this or that just to stay alive.

But God is doing what matters—He is refining you. He is placing you into a crucible in which you will acquire patience, meekness, humility, compassion, and the other “quiet” virtues your soul may naturally lack. So don’t be afraid and don’t fret. Your present trial, as painful as it may be, has been screened through God’s wisdom and love. He sits beside the crucible tempering the flames, monitoring the process, waiting patiently until His face is mirrored in the surface.

Don’t worry about your pain, God won’t let it get to be much more than you can endure or handle, at the right time, He will change it!