What the Fire reveals

How God exposes the heart and deepens our trust in Him

When God starts refining our lives, the fire exposes the foundations on which we have built.

In the previous article, When the Fire Returns, we examined the words of the prophet Malachi, in which God is described as a refiner who purifies His people.

Malachi wrote,

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver.
(Malachi 3:3 ESV)

A refiner sits beside the furnace, carefully watching the metal as it passes through the fire.

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Scripture uses that same image to describe how God works in the lives of His people. Peter wrote that faith is “tested by fire” so that its genuineness may be revealed (1 Peter 1:7 ESV).

To grow in God, the refining process must continue throughout the Christian walk, and God will use each season to reveal what lives in our hearts.

Without this refining work, we become stagnant in our growth.

God’s refinement can be initiated in various ways, and it looks different for each person. The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 ESV).

When God begins His refining work, what lives within us is brought into the light. The heart can be deceptive, yet the Lord searches the heart and examines the mind (Jeremiah 17:9–10 ESV).

God will bring what lives in our hearts into the light during the refining process. At that point, many Christians struggle and walk away because they become frustrated or misinterpret what God is doing. What they thought God was refining turns out to be deeper than expected.

When refinement exposes a deep hurt, believers can misunderstand what God is doing. When our heart posture or attitude is revealed, we assume something has gone wrong in our faith.

Sometimes we think the trial created the attitude, when it has revealed what was already hidden in our hearts. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV).

It can feel like lying on an operating table, and it may seem as though the surgeon is causing the pain. Yet the pain is necessary to reach what is deeper.

What feels like failure can actually be God bringing healing, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

When something hidden is exposed, shame tells us we have failed. Like Adam and Eve, we hide when we should be turning toward God (Genesis 3:8 ESV).

Peter displays this clearly. He was close to Jesus and believed he would stand with Him no matter what. He said he was ready to go with Him both to prison and to death (Luke 22:33 ESV).

When Peter felt the pressure around him, he was overwhelmed and denied Jesus. He believed he would stand firm, yet fear took hold. Jesus had warned him that before the rooster crowed, he would deny Him three times (Luke 22:34 ESV).

Peter would have believed he had failed. The last thing he did before Jesus was taken away was deny Him.

We can come to the same place when God exposes what is in our hearts. We begin to believe we have failed God or that our faith has weakened.

Jesus revealed that failure isn’t the end, but part of His work of love and mercy. Before Peter denied Him, Jesus had already said that Peter would come back and strengthen his brothers (Luke 22:32 ESV).

Yet scripture shows that exposure is part of the refining process. What rises in our hearts during the fire is what God intends to bring into the light.

God reveals what lives in our hearts, and we are faced with a decision. We can resist what God is revealing, or we can surrender our hearts to His work of refining.

Refining moves forward when we yield to God. When we acknowledge what God has exposed and place it before Him, the process of transformation continues.

Refining leads us into stages. At times, God feels distant, and we ask where He is.

David cried out,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me?”
(Psalm 22:1 ESV)

We can find ourselves in the same place as David during the refining process. Even as we continue walking with God, there are times when we can’t feel His presence.

There can come a stage where everything we relied on has been stripped away. Trust then becomes a conscious decision.

If our faith depends on how we feel, we may walk away when the feelings disappear. Refining teaches us to trust who God is rather than how we feel.

Brian Dempsey wrote on Substack, “Feelings are powerful messengers, but terrible kings.”

During the refining process, we learn not to allow feelings to rule our faith. Even when we cannot feel God’s presence, we choose to trust Him.

Refining doesn’t follow a straight line. At times, there can be a sense of spiritual disconnection. In our everyday lives, God can begin to refine us when a reaction exposes what lives in our hearts. It can also happen while reading scripture, where our heart posture is revealed.

God doesn’t force the refining process. When something is exposed in our hearts, we’re faced with a decision. We can ignore it or bring it before God in prayer.

When we recognise that internal reaction or feel a spiritual disconnection, we can lay it before God and begin to pray. Sometimes the healing comes quickly. Other times, it takes time as God continues His work in us.

That’s why God’s refining isn’t linear. He continues to work in our hearts throughout our walk with Him.

The refining process continues as long as we allow God to refine us. As we surrender to Him, our trust in God grows. When God exposes what lives in our hearts, we can either resist what He reveals or place it before Him and allow Him to continue His work in us.

Trusting God through refining isn’t about how quickly we respond or how strongly we feel His presence. Proverbs calls us to trust in the Lord with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV) as we come to know who God is.

Those who know His name place their trust in Him, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you (Psalm 9:10 ESV). We learn that He will meet us in our pain and carry our burdens (1 Peter 5:7 ESV).

Scripture uses the image of fire to describe this refining. Peter wrote that faith is “tested by fire” so that its genuineness may be revealed (1 Peter 1:7 ESV). God uses this process to bring to light what lives in our hearts and to continue forming us as we walk with Him. God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). Through the fire, He continues His work as we keep walking with Him.

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