God is often compared to fire in the Bible. When you read about fire, it usually means one of three things: an indicator of God’s presence, a means of His purification, or a display of His passion.

This is part two of the series, how fire represents God’s purification of our hearts. This post was written for the Reclaiming Hope and Joy in Your Marriage blog party at Finding Hope and Joy in Christ. I hope you’ll click through and read the rest, and take some time to explore the many excellent articles in the series there!

Look at that shiny ring of gold on your finger, the one he placed there the day you said “I do”.   It’s a symbol of commitment, the circle representing unending love.   Did you ever imagine saying “I do” would put you in the Refiner’s Fire?

Do you remember the day he proposed?

That special ring was given to you in one of the most romantic moments of your life.

Did he surprise you, dropping to one knee when you least expected it?

Maybe you picked it out together while clutching hands as you peered into a lighted case ablaze with diamonds.

Over the years, it’s been through some stuff.

• Scuffed and scratched by life
• It’s seen good days and bad
• Some years it was adjusted and carefully buffed
• In other years it’s so much a part of your day-to-day that you forget it’s even there.

That, too, is a symbol of the commitment of marriage. The longer you’ve had it the more precious it’s become.  It changes you.  There’s a groove around the fourth finger of your left hand that wasn’t there before.

It is a symbol of your love

It hides an even deeper truth about the commitment of marriage.  Slip it off your finger for a minute. Look at the inside, the part that rests against your skin.

Do you see it? 

No matter how long you’ve been married, even if the outside of your ring has lost its shine

—the inside is smooth, soft, pure

Because the gold that forms that ring has been through the refiner’s fire, literally.

Please click here to read the rest at Hope and Joy in Christ!