Step 13 of 14He sat by me all night

The Refiner's Fire

I was ore dug from the mountain, just a rock with iron veinsFull of dross and full of stubborn, full of pride and full of stainsBut the Smith picked me up anyway and turned me in His handSaid, "There's a sword inside of this," though I didn't understand

Then He laid me in the coals where the fire's burnin' whiteAnd I cried out, "Lord, how long?" — and He sat by me all night

It's the refiner's fireIt ain't there to burn you downIt's burnin' off the drossTill the steel inside is foundAnd He never lets the fireGet hotter than you can stand'Cause the Smith who holds the hammerHolds you in His other hand

Then the hammer started fallin', and it fell on everythingLost my job, then lost my father, then my health gave out that springEvery blow I thought would break me, and I begged Him for an endBut He was foldin' strength into me that I couldn't comprehend

Then He plunged me in the water, and the steam rose like a cryAnd I came out harder than I went in — and I finally knew why

A prophet sat in Liberty Jail, forgotten and aloneCried, "O God, where art Thou?" through the cold and through the stoneAnd the answer that came back to him is the one I've understood"All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good"

It's the refiner's fireAnd I'm walkin' out of it wholeHe made weak things become strong in meAnd He forged it in my soulNow I'm ready for a battleThat I never could've stoodIf He hadn't held me in the fireTill the steel was good

They say the Smith knows it's finishedWhen He can see His face in the steelSo leave me in the fire, LordTill Your image is revealed

The story

This is the most personal song on the album. It's about a season when the hammer kept falling, one blow after another: a lost job, a lost father, and then health giving out. The man in the song sees himself as raw ore dug out of a mountain, full of dross and stubbornness and pride, laid in coals burning white. And he cries out the question so many of us have asked in the dark: Lord, how long?

Malachi described the Savior as "like a refiner's fire," and then added a detail almost everyone skips: "he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." Sit with that. A refiner can't walk away from the crucible. Silver left in the fire too long is ruined, so he stays right there beside it, watching the metal, for as long as it takes. That's why the song says He sat by me all night. He's not a distant God tossing us into the fire and leaving. He stays. And He never lets the fire get hotter than you can stand, because the Smith who holds the hammer holds you in His other hand.

In the winter of 1838 and 1839, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his companions were locked for months in a cold, cramped jail in Liberty, Missouri, while the Saints were being driven from the state. Joseph cried out, "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" And the Lord answered him: "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment." He told Joseph that "all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." And then, gently, He pointed him to Christ: "The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that even in a place like Liberty Jail, every experience can become a redemptive experience if we stay bonded to our Father in Heaven through it.

I want to be careful here, because this is tender ground. The Lord doesn't cause every hard thing that happens to us. Lehi taught that there must be "opposition in all things" in this mortal life; hardship is part of the world we chose to come to. But the Lord can use all of it. When Alma's people were in bondage, He didn't take the burden off them right away. He said, "I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs," and He strengthened them so they could bear it with patience. That is the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ: not only forgiveness, but strength.

And the song is right about the steel. Quenching is what hardens a blade. Folding is what makes it strong. The Lord promised Moroni, "if men come unto me... my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." The man in the song walks out of the fire whole, ready for a battle he never could have stood before.

The song ends with an old saying: the Smith knows the work is finished when He can see His own face in the steel. Alma asked, "have ye received his image in your countenances?" That's what all of this is for. Not to burn you down, but to make you like Him. So if you're in the fire tonight, you're not alone in it. He's sitting right there. And He's not finished with you yet.

Sources

Think about it

In the hardest season of your life, where was the Lord? If you can't see Him there yet, what would it mean to believe that He was sitting by the fire the whole time?

Tonight

Write down one hard thing you are going through, and next to it one way you have seen the Lord with you in it, or one way you are asking to see Him.

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