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Refined By Fire God brings beauty from the pain by Christi Branson God works on me through heartbreak. When my heart is broken (or what we call "the grieving process"), I am left exposed. No shield, no fence, no crap. It's just me — my true self before God. I hate feeling sick with grief, but I find real comfort with God who knows and loves me. In this time, I search Him for some kind of purpose for the pain, and I find it in a fire. In this time of heartbreak, I clearly see God as my Creator, who is not finished crafting me. I see Him as a refiner, and it is I in the fire being shaped, molded, and purified. In the refiner's fire, raw metal is transformed into something better. The fire burns out the impurities in the raw metal, and a precious metal emerges from the flames. The fire stings and burns, but God will not leave me there. He will lift me from the flames: glowing, renewed, and beautiful. When I feel the blaze of heartache, I crave relief. I find comfort, however, in knowing that I am being meticulously handcrafted by God Himself. The process is painful, but the result is beautiful and pure. It's a painful time, but it's an honest time. And it's a time when I know that God is near to me.