Gold
In the midst of life we have many trials that come our way and some of these trials at times feel unfair and beyond our strength. When things get beyond our strength we know that God’s strength ultimately keeps us going. Our faith gets tested again and again and little by little we learn to rely more on Jesus and His strength, which is the plan anyway. Verse 7 says our faith is more precious than gold and the testing of that faith is best seen through the purification process of gold.
From sciencing….
If the gold is a low grade ore, then it is broken up into chunks that are then put in carefully lined pads and treated with a dilute cyanide solution, which dissolves the gold. For high grade ore, the metal is sent to a grinding mill and made into a powder. Refractory ore contains carbon and is heated to over 1000 degrees F, which removes sulfide and carbon. The resulting oxide ore is directed to the leaching circuit. Sulfide refractory ore that contains no carbon is oxidized in an autoclave to free gold from sulfide minerals, then it is sent to the leaching circuit. At this point, treated high grade ore is leached with cyanide and gold is collected onto activated carbon with the cyanide solution being recycled. The gold-carbon mixture is put in a vessel where the gold is removed chemically. The carbon is then recycled. The gold is then extracted from the solution by electrolysis or chemical substitution.
After accepting Christ we know the flesh continues to try and keep control of our life and so the impurities that might remain are extracted through, yes you guessed it, TRIALS. I’ve got to think “why trials”? The answer to that question is that it is God’s plan and since he created the whole universe, He definitely knows what He is doing. So keep in mind who God is and who I am and then trusting becomes a little more palatable. You may notice in the end of verse 7 Peter says “so WHEN your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is reveled to the whole world.” In the initial process of refining gold the grinding of the ore to a powder is followed by heating to 1000′ degrees and that removes the impurities sulfide and carbon. Keep in mind that in the grind of life we may get discouraged about this whole process, but the end result is what we desire because it lines up with God’s desire for our life. I know I get discouraged from time to time while going through this process, but I do come out as gold refined by fire, which is purified gold. More value and more at peace with who I am and who is calling the shots. That is what we know as God’s Plan.
Peter told his readers, who also happen to be us, that we have this hope that is complete with wonderful joy as it’s destination and that is ok with me. It doesn’t discount the problems of the hurt and confusion caused by the refining process, but trusting Jesus in faith has its own rewards in the process. That is where we get to realize that the God of the universe loves us enough to take great care in developing a unique person of faith. We should never try and stop this process, but let it continue to help us to shine and honor God with our faith in Him. That faith is precious, in fact, more precious than GOLD!!
The Pilgrimage continues…..
David Warren