Am I courageous?

Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Luke 9:21-22

How many times have you heard someone say, "If I had know what that would be like, I would never have tried it?" So many things in our lives are harder than we ever hoped, but they end up refining us and making us better off for them. There are things that I want to do, things I want to be, places I want to go, but I don't - simply because I know there is a hard path to get there. I wonder if I would have the courage to do what God will call me to do next. Could I possibly be like Jesus and just matter-of-factly think, "Ok, these are the things that need to happen?" Even if I could, would I have the courage to follow through?

A story is told about the verse, Malachai 3:3. This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The silversmith answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed!

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy - when I see my image in it."

Here's the question... do I have the courage to sit through the fire, knowing it will be nearly unbearable, but also knowing that I will be better off on the other side?

Peace