Malachi 3:4 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;
Sometimes contact with God, the holy one of Israel, is a scary affair. When the prophet Isaiah encountered God in the temple, his tongue was burned with charcoal. When Moses met God on the mountain, his face and appearance were changed for life. God is different than we are. All of our attempts to talk about what God might look like, what it might be like to meet God face to face.... all of it is metaphor. We cannot describe, we cannot know what that encounter would be like.
But the image of fire is common. Malachi reminds us that fire does not only destroy. Fire makes things stronger. Fire changes and purifies metal. God changes and purifies us. It may be not be comfortable. It may not feel like what we were hoping for. But we will be changed by an encounter with the living God. And we will be stronger.
In Christ,
Pastor Seth
Visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot for conversation and http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for more details on all our ministries. Worship with us this weekend at 5 pm Saturday and 9 am Sunday.
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