Slag or Treasure

 

 Metals require refining in order for them to achieve their greatest value. All metals are mined from the ground as ore, mixed in with other minerals and contaminants which diminish the purity of the metals. Regardless of the planned use of the metal, there is a process through which the raw metal ore needs to pass for it to perform at its best - this process is called refinement. There are several different processes by which metals of different types are refined, but the process that has been in use the longest, and is still widely used today, is refinement through the addition of heat.

Very simply, in this type of refinement, the metal ore is placed in a crucible, a vessel which can withstand extremely high temperatures, and the ore is heated to a point where the metals within the ore are liquefied. In their liquid forms, the different metals can separate from each other by flowing past each other as they settle in different layers, and any other minerals and contaminants can rise to the surface. The materials that are floating on the surface of the molten metals are referred to as slag or dross. This slag can be skimmed off and disposed of, or possibly further refined to capture anything else that may be of value within the slag, but in regards to the state of the metal that is being refined, the slag is considered useless and of no value but only a detriment to the desired outcome. One thing that is of interest in this process is that typically, the most precious materials are found in the smallest concentrations of any sample as compared to everything else that gets separated through the refinement process. It is this feature; the scarcity of the metal and the additional processes required to obtain the purest form and the rarest metal, that makes these metals precious.

This process can be done repeatedly to remove more impurities and further increase the value of the metal. 

I once heard what is likely a fictional story about someone who visited a silversmith. The purpose of this story was to make a point, not necessarily to be factually correct. It has been a while since I heard it, so we'll see how well I remember it.

The visitor was asking the silversmith about the process of extracting the silver from the unprocessed ore. The silversmith explained that he would take the ore and place it in a crucible to be heated to melt the different impurities out of it. The different impurities would liquefy at different temperatures and these different impurities would need to be removed from the rest of the ore, or metals at these different times and temperatures. These impurities will float to the top of the molten metal and be skimmed off as dross, making sure to leave as much of the desired metal left in the crucible as possible to be further refined.

This process of heating and removal must be repeated time and again, each time leaving less impurities in the sample. As the sample gets closer to being pure, of course there is less waste and contamination to be removed, changing the appearance and qualities of the sample.

An important aspect of this process is that the silversmith needs to keep a close watch over the sample so as not to ruin the sample. If he heats it too much or too long, it can have a detrimental affect on the final product.

The visitor then asked the silversmith how he knows when the silver that he is processing is pure. To this the silversmith replied,"When I can see myself in the silver, then I know that the impurities have been removed and that I have a pure sample.

This is used to present a real world example of what God does to refine us. God will place us into situations that are uncomfortable, even difficult, to remove the dross that is released by the heating process of that situation. Each step in the refining process will remove different contaminants in our lives; maybe a focus on self will be the first contaminant removed. Maybe greed or lying or gossip may be removed with the next few steps of the refinement process, which involve repeated heat cycles, with incremental increases in the temperatures and the times required for the refining. Stated otherwise, the trials will become more difficult and will last longer.

Through this entire process, the Refiner will keep a close eye on that which He is refining to ensure that it is not damaged by the process. It is important to note that the refining process is not a quick one-and-done scenario, but requires repeated application of increasing heat for an increasing length of time. Over and over and over again this process is repeated, as often as is necessary to remove the different contaminants, and each different sample will need a different number of heat cycles due to different contaminants in each sample which result from what the metal has been surrounded by.

Notice how the Refiner watches how the metal reacts to the heat cycles. It is the desire of the Refiner to achieve the best possible outcome and the purest possible product, but He must be very careful to avoid causing damage, as this damage could potentially ruin all of His prior work. The Refiner will know that the process is completed when He sees Himself in the purified product.

What a wonderful picture of how God refines us. He allows the struggles of life to push into our little world to test us and heat us. As we submit to His refining efforts, He will remove from us the undesirable attributes that we hold onto, and each step brings us closer to what He wants us to be. When He, the Refiner, sees Himself reflected in us, then He knows that the refining process is complete.

We see how this is laid out for us in Scripture. In Psalm 66 we see in verses 10-12, "For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver. ¹¹ You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. ¹² You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." So we see that God uses our trials and tribulations to test and refine us to make us what He wants us to be. Much as I like to point out that muscles, and faith, are not strengthened without stress and strain, in the same way our negative attributes, the dross in our lives, will not be removed unless there is heat added in the form of difficulties.

But why does God care? Does He do this for us? What gain is there for us in this purification? What value is there to God for us to be purified? Isaiah 48:10-11 tells us; "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. ¹¹ For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another." God does not do this for our benefit, but for His. We are to be His ambassadors on this earth, proclaiming his message to the citizens of this world. But will people listen to a message of repentance from a corrupted vessel? Absolutely not! 

I am reminded of our current world leaders who preach to all the "peons" beneath them that we are to blame for the state of the climate and that we are to sacrifice in myriad ways to protect the earth from our own incompetence at it's management. This includes reducing our use of "fossil fuels" and the reduction of the consumption of meat in our diets, and most recently in Canada, a tax on everything that has a "carbon emission" in any part of it's production. In other words, everything is taxed to make the weather better. Meanwhile, these hypocrites travel around the world over and over again to meet together face to face and congratulate themselves on their virtue signalling while travelling with huge cohorts of like minded individuals that enjoy the best things that this world has to offer, including private flights, secured motorcades, exotic locations and extravagant dinners which are not purely vegetarian as the plebes are instructed to eat.

It is this type of hypocrisy that causes the lay people to spurn the climate preaching of these virtue signallers. And in the case of the Christian message to the world, it is our own hypocrisy that taints our message to others when we preach against the evils of this world, but they see in us our own weaknesses.

Is it even possible for us to attain perfect purity before God? Absolutely not! We are a fallen creature before a Holy and perfect Creator, but throughout our lives God wants us to submit to His refining processes in order to strive towards holiness; never achieving, but always striving. But not everyone will submit themselves to this refining process. This is indicated to us in Zechariah  13:8-9 “It will come about in all the land,” Declares the Lord, “That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. ⁹ “And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” So we see that, just as the majority of the unprocessed ore will be removed and discarded as worthless, so will be the majority of people. They will reject God as a whole and will not be subjected to the refining process.

There is a certain degree to which God will unilaterally choose to test us. This will indicate to Him and to us whether or not we are committed to live according to His will. There are many who will either resist completely the testing that He determines for them, or they will begin to submit to the testing, only to bow out part way through it by their disobedience to God's instructions to them. This testing is difficult and not everybody is able to stand through it, but that is what the testing is for, and if someone enters the testing but fails to complete it, I believe that they can repent of their failings and submit themselves again to further refinement. The refining process is graduated, continually producing a better project through each step, hence even a failure can strengthen and mature our faith.

The question that each of us must wrestle with is whether we are willing to allow God to test and refine us through trials and struggles, or if we are content where we are at in our faith walk. The refinement is hard, but what a precious product it creates.

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