The Crucible

This past week was a tough one to be a McAfee. It seemed like the whole family had challenges.

Kim’s and mine were physical. She’s had terrible seasonal allergies that have given her crippling headaches. Work has been tough as she tried to focus through the pain. I spent Monday and Tuesday wondering whether a stomach virus or some bad meat was responsible for the intestinal rebellion raging within me. We felt powerless.

Our problems were minor but kept us from being fully supportive of Erin and James while they dealt with their own situations.

Erin’s cash transfer app, Venmo, was hacked, and all the money in her checking account was stolen. Twice. On Tuesday morning, she woke up to an account balance that was several hundred dollars negative. She immediately notified Venmo and the bank. But even after visiting the bank and reporting the fraudulent activity, the bank failed to freeze her account. Two days later, the automatic deposit of her paycheck went through instead of being rejected. The criminals were still on top of their game and immediately stole all of her money again. She felt like a victim.

James bounced his rent check despite his best efforts to do things the right way. While he was dealing with that, his account was charged for an electric scooter rental that someone else had used. In all, he was out $150. In college money, it was a small fortune. He was then notified by the social/athletic clubs he had tried to join that he a was persona non grata. He felt rejected, lonely, and broke.

Are these attacks by the Evil One? Is his mission to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) focused on our family? Maybe, but I’m not worried about him.

Ore is the natural state of gold. It is totally intermixed with all the different things of this earth and rests comfortably in the darkness. Ore has no real value. It isn’t pretty or useful. In order for gold to become what it was meant to be, it has to be set apart from the world and processed. The ore is first crushed and impurities are separated from it. It is purer then, but not finished yet.

The semi-finished ore is then heated to 1,064° F in a crucible under the careful watch of the refiner. Too little heat and it doesn’t separate. Too much heat could damage the gold. The fire burns away some of the impurities of the earth and causes others to rise to the surface, where the refiner can remove them. Through patience and a watchful eye, a perfect bar of gold emerges.

When gold is pure, the world no longer has an effect on it. Air doesn’t blemish it and water does not corrode it. It becomes an almost perfect conductor of power that reflects the light of the sun. Highly processed gold may be soft, but it is eternal.

In the midst of our family’s challenges, I choose to believe that God is refining us. The process is hard, but each step brings us closer to the full potential that we have through him. We have dedicated our lives to him and must accept the discomfort that comes with the transformation.

So, what about the Evil One? Is he powerless in all this? Is he real? Yes, the influence of darkness exists, but it has limits. The devil cannot steal what already belongs to God. He cannot kill a life that has been born again. And he cannot destroy the eternal kingdom.

I believe that God uses the deceiver sometimes. Because Satan’s authority is over the things of this earth, his dominion is over the impurities that God seeks to remove. He can steal, kill, and destroy those things, but God’s plan was to refine us, to separate us from those things anyway.

As I was trying to let all this sink in, I realized that I had an errand to run. I jumped into the car, and these words poured out of the radio as if he was speaking directly to me.

And though I know all about those men, still I don’t remember.  ‘Cause it was us, way before then, and we’re still together. And I meant every word I said.  When I said that I loved you I meant that I loved you forever. And I’m gonna keep on loving you. *

When things start to get hot, I need to embrace the crucible as if it were a relaxing jacuzzi, not an enemy hot box. My focus should be on releasing impurity and trusting in the Master.

I am in my Father’s hands. He is watching over me, refining me into something eternal because he loves me. And he’s gonna keep on loving me.

* Source: REO Speedwagon. “Keep on Loving You”.