a speck of pure gold

“Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to His church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as He exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands…” Eph 5:22-24 (MSG)

Recently while talking with the ladies at Bible study, I shared how I struggled (still do at times) with submission. I had been a single mom for six and a half years before my husband, John (for over 25 yrs. now), came into our lives; this was before Christ was my Lord. I was self-sufficient. I thought, due to worldly conception, that submission meant John was the "boss" and I was the servant, to do whatever he wanted.

Approximately 12 yrs into our marriage, we surrendered our lives to Christ and the issue of submission came up via a Bible study titled ‘The Other Side of The Garden’ by Virginia Fugate. I struggled and fought with the Lord over the thought of having, to surrender to and become dependant upon a man, after all my mom had, and when my dad suddenly died, she was so lost and felt so helpless. It had not sunk in to my thoughts that being unwilling to surrender to God’s way would affect my walk with Him. Submission to John was/is surrendering to Christ and the way HE designed the rolls for man and wife.

The study came to a part where it spoke of a refiner and the process of refining gold. It is a long process and the refiner lovingly watches over the precious metal before him, carefully not allowing the fire to get to hot, just hot enough to cause impurities (dross) to rise to the surface at which the refiner would scoop them off, then return the crucible back to the fire (Proverbs 25:4; Mal 3:3). One particular day, while studying this passage, my daughter came over. She could see that I was struggling and rather frustrated, and asked what was wrong. To which I replied, "This study is killing me and by the time it gets done with me I'll be just a speck of gold!" She thought for a moment and then uttered these words, which will forever be ones I cling to..."Ya, but a least you'll be pure." Profound words straight from the Throne room of heaven through my daughter. God knew I needed to hear those words at that moment!

God is much like a refiner in our lives, allowing trials to come our way that will cause impurities, such as attitudes, motives, weaknesses, etc., to surface in our lives so that the impurity in our life may rise to the surface, only to be removed by the Master Refiner. One of the more recent impurities that have risen in my life, besides submission, is pride. Did you know pride comes in many forms? It does, but I will leave that for another blog.

Join me as I once again surrender to God’s ways that I may not only be in His will. To hear the words, “You have fought the good fight, well done My good and faithful servant…” I would stand before Him, my Master, as a speck of pure gold.

Have a triumphant day in Jesus!
April