The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and the LORD tests hearts. (Proverbs 17:3, ESV)
Even the best players—the ones with all the shots—will tell you that there are holes that do not fit their eye. They stand on the tee and cannot “see” their shot shape in a way that makes them fully comfortable to take the club back. In moments like these, they are being put to the test: Can they really trust all those practice repetitions and swing freely?
Whether or not we are good players, we know the answer to that question. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Sometimes you will pass the test and sometimes you will fail.
As in golf, we will be tested over and over again in life. Business tests our ethics, slow lines test our patience, relationships test our love. Every day we step into the furnace, where how we speak and act are put to the test. And to follow the metaphor of today’s noted proverb, we must ask ourselves whether we are coming out more refined, like silver or gold. This is a question that is harder to answer than a reflection on our golf game, for it is a question that requires a good look at our heart.
Without admitting and addressing our failures, we cannot grow.Staring down one’s heart is risky business. It requires coming face to face not only with how we see ourselves but with how God sees us. We will find things we don’t want to find; we will fail. But without admitting and addressing our failures, we cannot grow. We will not move any closer to God’s righteousness, to purity.
So how do we go about the work of testing our heart? First we must recognize, as today’s proverb does, that this is God’s work. Therefore, we must let him go about it. We must let him use our marriage and our children and the demands of our work, including its commute, to put our heart to the test. There will be much worthless dross there, but take heart—there will also be silver and gold. God wants us to see how we can have more of the latter, what we might even call “precious mettle.”
And then we must be willing to stand corrected and make changes. This is a deep exercise in humility. If God, by his word and by the counsel of those who have proper spiritual authority in our lives, shows us how we need to act differently, there is only one thing for us to do: act differently. No matter how proud we are of who we’ve been, we now humbly let him transform us into people with new hearts.
—
Jeff Hopper
June 11, 2021
Copyright 2021 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
OTHER DEVOTIONS IN THIS SERIES
Oh, To Be Wise 1: Finding Wisdom
Oh, To Be Wise 2: Good Advice
Oh, To Be Wise 4: A Guarded Heart
Oh, To Be Wise 5: A Winning Way
Oh, To Be Wise 6: The Right Word
Oh, To Be Wise 7: Loving Discipline
Oh, To Be Wise 8: Equal Before God
Oh, To Be Wise 9: Growing Stronger