The Tried and True

By Missey Butler

Some men are goldsmiths by trade and some are silversmiths. Did you know that God is a Heartsmith? The Bible describes Him as the God whom tries our hearts.

He tells us in the Book of Revelation,

“I am He Who searches the reins and hearts.” (Revelations 2:23)

He is also described as the great Refiner and Purifier, the One who continually looks upon the hearts of man, and makes it His craft to mold and make us into something beautiful and worthy.

What exactly is God looking for? He is searching for a heart that He can uniquely call His own, one that is captured and won by the simple glance of His eyes.

He longs to find a heart full of passion, like the Shulamite woman described in Solomon’s love letter. She went up and down the village streets, desperately searching for her beloved and would not be consoled until she found him (Song of Solomon 5:6).

He is constantly testing and trying our hearts to see if we will be faithful to Him and to Him alone. I can almost visualize Him in His Kingdom workshop, clad with full apron attire and protective eyewear while carefully placing “untried” hearts deep within the great stone hearth of fiery flame.

The painstaking processes of consuming and purging ultimately brings forth a pure heart. In the final stage of forging and casting, our heart is consummated completely with His.

He watches intently, making sure that this incendiary work is thorough. Nothing is to be missed. He takes a moment to wipe the sweat from His brow ... or is that a tear from His cheek? Nevertheless, God recognizes the process as grueling and sometimes devastating.

His own heart kindles with intense pain and grief recognizing full well what lies deep within the hidden chambers where no one can see but Him.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV)

His piercing eyes penetrate like a laser beam, bolting right past all the exterior façade and honing in on every true intention and every aim of design. His gentle hand pushes aside the remaining debris as the light exposes wrong motives or evil intentions. All movement is weighed, analyzed and brought to the unrelenting scrutiny of the Holy Spirit.

"For the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing and dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12 KJV)

Why does He do it? He does it because, without a continual “burning away” of the impurities, we are incapable of becoming translucent and transparent. We must be able to “see” and “be seen” so that we can more and more reflect the beautiful glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Most assuredly our God is a Master Heartsmith! His desire is that the tried … are found to be true, in order to fulfill the endtime mandate of preparing a church that is without spot or wrinkle (Ephesians 5: 27 KJV).

"And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:2 KJV)

Are you feeling the heat of the refiner’s fire? Let me encourage you to surrender yourself to the process. Allow Him to prove you by igniting your heart with His all consuming fire! It is the only way God has of knowing who truly are His own.

Will you allow the Master Heartsmith to mold and make your heart into the very image of His Son, Jesus Christ, who Himself was tried … and found to be true!

"For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.' " (2 Peter 1:17)