Duped by our circumstances, our relative comfort, our culture, we are missing a reality that God is offering. For us, for human, that life appears like a paradox where loving an enemy is the norm and humility is the paradigm.
Revelation 3:17-18a
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire . . .
I have been intrigued by the “refiner’s fire” for some years. In fact, I remember when it started, at a Sunday School class. I remember we were talking about Solomon and the completion of the Temple [see II Chronicles 7] when the fire came down, consumed the offerings and then the Glory of the Lord filled the Temple. No one could enter for a time. This appeared to be a consuming fire, but it was really a cleansing fire. Everything of value remained. It was a distinguishing fire.
This is the same Refiner’s Fire that God promises to use on us. And like all of the seemingly self-contradictory statements in the scriptures, this fire will not destroy us either.
If we want to see beyond the every day, if we want to see God in our midst, if we want to enter into the mysteries of God, then we have to accept the refiner’s fire. It’s a leap of faith because this fire may consume the things we have held onto for years, our “things” that have given us a semblance of security.
Meditations from Zion 
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