but the Lord tests the heart.” NRSV
Crucibles and furnaces, when used with silver and gold, aren’t used to test whether or not these elements are what they proclaim to be. Rather, crucibles and furnaces are used to extract the impurities that have become infused within the elements.
Impurities in precious metals permeate the elements. It becomes impossible to actually see the impurities; the elements appear pure until subjected to the purifying process. For example, 10k gold is only 41.7% gold. (Only 200k gold is pure gold.) And yet, 10k gold jewelry is impossible to discern with the naked eye from 18k gold (which is 75% gold).
The fact that these two things are put together in this verse:
• purifying precious metals, and
• the Lord testing our hearts
tells us that this proverb is talking about the same thing. When the Lord “tests” our hearts, He isn’t doing it to determine whether or not we are His, but rather to remove the impurities of lust, pride, ego, anger, unforgiveness, selfishness, and other habitual sins that still remain. He is testing us because He loves us and wants us to be as true to Him as we can be.
His testing is a blessing, not a punishment.
What is it we want from the Lord? Most of us, when we are brutally honest, will admit that we want the things that appear to make this life easier. We want money and luxury and power and the admiration of those around us. But thankfully God’s plans for us are much broader than that. He knows that the things of this world are temporary, like paper houses. He wants to give us that which will serve us over the long haul of eternity, a pure heart and a soul that longs after Him. Only those things can we take on life’s final journey. Only those things last.
When He allows us to be faced with trials and hardships and even pain, He is putting us through the crucible to remove the impurities of sin. He wants to purify out those things which come between us and Him. He wants us to focus on those things which are truly important.
As parents, we need to take that same tack toward our children. When we “help” them by removing or lessening life’s consequences, we may be actually hindering God’s lessons in their lives. They don’t need us to make the way easier for them; they need us to pray for them and walk beside them as they walk the path God has prepared. He’s not concerned about whether or not the way is hard; He’s concerned about whether or not they will develop the strength to persevere.
The way of the Christian is hard. The Lord Jesus Himself told us that it is the hard road: “For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14 NRSV). As people, our natural tendency is to want God to make the road easy for us. It can’t be. We need the crucible to remove the impurities.
Oh, dear ones, let us be among the few who find the narrow gate, the hard one, that we might rejoice with God in eternity!
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
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