The Unedited Life of a Sex Trafficking Survivor

Every day for the 14 months that Mom lived with us before she passed away, I would read a poem that she had taped to the back of her door. It quickly became my favorite poem of all time and expresses the way I feel in my Christian walk.

The Refiner’s Fire

He sat by the fire of seven-fold heat,

As He watched by 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 of price untold.

 

So He laid our gold in the burning fire,

Though we fain would have said Him, “Nay.”

And He watched the dross that we had not seen,

As it melted and passed away.

 

And the gold grew brighter, and yet more bright 

And our eyes were so dim with tears,

As we saw the fire, not the Master’s hand,

And questioned with anxious fear. 

 

Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,

As it mirrored a Form above

That bent o’er the fire, through unseen by us

With a look of infinite love.

 

Can we think that it pleases His loving heart

To cause a moment of pain?

Ah, no, but He saw through the present cross

The bliss 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!

 

Author Unknown

“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver.” Malachi 3:3