10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10

1. What do I feel in the middle of suffering? 

The Groan

2. What do I see in the middle of suffering?

Discerning

3. What is happening in the middle of suffering?

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3

2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

God is Refining

10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10

Refining: to improve or purify something by removing unwanted elements or making small, precise adjustments.

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

Michelangelo

God’s love is a consuming fire

3 Know therefore today that he who goes over before you as a consuming fire is the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 9:3

“Safe?... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

C.S. Lewis (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)

“The consuming fire of God is not the fire of a wild animal attacking us; it is the fire of a savior who loves us too much to leave us untouched.”

God sees His children stuck, and will refine them until they’re free.

In The Fire of God’s Refining Love:

1. NOTHING OF VALUE IS LOST

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits[a] and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Daniel 3:1-2

26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:26-29

1. We lose what we’ve tried to cover ourselves with.

1. We lose what we’ve been bound up in.

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Daniel 3:23-25 

Fear tells us that everything being broken off is a loss. The Gospel tells us that everything being broken off is gain.

8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 

Philippians 3:8

1. NOTHING OF VALUE IS ADDED

1. The Gospel doesn’t say, “Jesus makes life better.”

1. The Gospel says, “Jesus is life.”

1. THE VALUE OF JESUS IS REVEALED

25 He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”

Daniel 3:25

His love does not change; it cannot be made to alter; the furnace cannot scorch us, not a single hair of our head can perish; we are as safe in the fire as we are out of it.

Charles Spurgeon