Well, as I think about it, I realize that the Lord leads me by fire also–not the kind of brilliant, clear fire ahead of me–or by Fourth of July fireworks either–but by a purifying internal fire, a fire that purges and causes great longing for Him and Him alone.   It’s not a fire that makes one “feel good” necessarily, but, nonetheless, it is a fire that leads, and leads us to places that we cannot go on our own.  It is the very fire of  His Holy Spirit making us ready to see Him as He is.

And that reminds me of something a good friend of mine, Cecilia, told me years ago when I was going through the fire: “Gold is gold before it goes through the fire.”  A good thing for us all to remember–we are already gold.  Amy Carmichael illustrates this point somewhere in her writings where she tells the story of a goldsmith who keeps pulling his work out of the fire and checking it.  When asked what he was doing, he replied that he was waiting for it to be pure enough to see his face in it.  So also does Christ want to see His face reflected in us, and that is the beautiful purpose of the fire in our lives.