Tenderness in Refinement

He sat by a fire of sevenfold heat,
As He looked at the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
To mold as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Though we would have asked for delay,
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away.
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire-not the Master's hand,
And questioned with anxious fears.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above,
That bent o'er the fire, though unseen by us,
With a look of unspeakable love.
Should we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause us a moment's pain?
Not so! for He saw through the present cross
The joy of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,
Than was needed to make it pure.
~Streams in the Desert, page 407-408

What I found so beautiful about this poem is the tenderness that can be found throughout the refining process that takes place in the life of the Christian. At the beginning the author admits that the nature of burning away the dross seems unpleasant and painful. Yet at the end of it all we see that Christ was there all along and He did not cause his child a needless tear. "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:4) How amazing that the Lord of Glory would regard us with such tenderness and mercy! Anything short of hell is an undeserved and extravagant grace.