““Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord. Then once more the Lord will accept the offerings brought to him by the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as he did in the past.” ‭‭- Malachi‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

With Malachi‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭and the idea of purifying things by fire and not enduring things immediately reminds me of 1 Corinthians 3:11-15

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.” ‭‭- 1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We always need to remember that what we plant our lives in and base our lives on will ultimately have an outcome. God’s foundation is firm and if you build on it, it will be difficult, but only on that firm foundation can you build something significant that doesn’t crumble when disaster strikes. We can’t survive without God. We just can’t. Nothing significant can come from our lives because he is the only one who can decide what is good and pleasing. Be fruitful with the way you live life. Do the things for the sake of God while rooting them on his foundation. Only then, when the refiner comes, will the fire he uses to refine show that something beautiful has been made from our labors. – Dylan Herring