Purify my heart
Let me be as gold
and precious silver…
Refiner’s fire
My heart’s one desire
is to be holy…
set apart for you my master
ready to do your will
The word of this song came to mind as I listened to Gracia Burnham speak at the CEF Banquet last Saturday. She spoke of the days of her captivity, days full of running and sore feet, and days of boredom. Yet her prayer at the end of every day was “Thank you Lord!”
The part that stuck out to me the most was how Gracia saw herself during that time. She saw sides of herself that she didn’t like. A part of her that was hateful and covetous.
It’s the extreme version of what I see when I’m pushed to my limit. God peels back each layer until he gets to the sin that I didn’t even know was there, and all I want to do is stuff it back inside and cling to it.
Gracia’s words gave a clarity to the words of the song above. The act of refining gold is to put it through an intense heat so that the impurities come to the surface and can be removed. Gracia went through more intensity than I can imagine, yet she allowed the impurities that surfaced to be recognized and worked on.
Even in my own little trials in life I have to not only see the sin that surfaces, but actually do something about it. Do it humbly and willingly.
As the rest of the evening moved on I saw people willing and eager to give their support to CEF of Montana. I saw people who love the Lord and love to see the children of Montana coming to know Jesus.
Thank you to everyone who attended and gave! We were able to take full advantage of the $15,000 matching grant!
CEF of Montana, INC. 