Change...

So, I know I've been doing a lot of "writing" and really pictures are more fun, but I wanted to post something that I found tonight, perhaps for my own benefit, but perhaps someone needed this as much as I did today...

For the past week or so, I've been thinking about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really about change. I've thought about how the gospel brings about little changes in our lives as we come to understand new things and therefore "repent" of our shortcomings and mistakes. As we do that, the Lord CHANGES us, through the amazing power of the Atonement, to be more like Him. So really, the gospel is all about continually changing! If we aren't willing or ready to change, we can't really progress...

Recently there have been many promptings in my life to follow through with some "changes" that I did NOT want to make, but alas, in order to truly have peace in my life, I gave into the will of the Lord. My thoughts this morning were, "why is it SO hard to do the "right" thing sometimes? It's what is "right" and is supposed to bring joy in my life, but right now it's SO HARD!" Then, this evening I randomly clicked onto my cousin's blog and saw a link to a her friends blog. This friend recently lost a baby who was born prematurely (weighing less than 2 lbs). It told of the experiences they had during this precious baby's 10 days here on earth. One of the posts consisted of this "story"...

The Eternal Refiner and Purifier of Silver-- Malachi 3:3


Malachi 3:3 says: "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."

This verse puzzled some students in an Old Testament Sunday School class and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the students, a woman, offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next class.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire to heat it up. He explained that when refining silver, one needs to hold the silver in the middle of the flame where the fire is hottest and thereby burn away all of the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot. Then she thought again about the verse that says: "…He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver..."

She asked the silversmith if he truly had to sit there in front of the fire closely monitoring the progress and make adjustments the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man assured her he did, and that he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy – when I see my image in it."

When you are personally feeling the heat of the fire, as we all sometimes do, remember that God has His eyes on you and will keep closely watching you until He sees His image in your countenance.

It was very humbling to read this and to be reminded that the Lord knows what he's doing... He really does love me more than I understand. He wants what is best... even if it is uncomfortable for me and may even hurt for a while. And if I'll do my best to follow his commandments, I'll see His countenance in myself, if only for a moment... WHAT AN AMAZING GIFT! To be like God, what more could I ask for! It's so hard to remember this when you feel like you are consumed by the heat of that refiners fire, but oh how amazing it is to look back and see who you have become because of it! What a blessing it is to know who I am, where I come from and how to get back there! I'm TRULY one of the luckiest people to have ever lived on this Earth. I'm grateful for my knowledge of Jesus Christ, of his life and mission, and to Know, though experience, of the POWER of the Atonement! I'm so blessed to know about this kind of change...