I got this is in one of those chain emails today. normally I just delete those but for some reason I read this one and I really liked it.

Malachi 3:3 says:
      
        “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of
        silver.”      
      
        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 man 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 e asy — when I see my image in
        it.”

        If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember
        that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until
        He sees His image in you.
             
        Pass this on right now..  This very moment, someone needs
        to know that God is watching over them.  And whatever
        they're going through, they'll be a better person in
        the end.      
      
        “Life is a coin.  You can spend it anyway you wish,
        but you can only spend it once.”

wow! thanks for posting this!