Who will remain standing?

Scripture: Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like fullers' alkali. Malachi 3:2

Prayer: How easy it is to glide over words that are unfamiliar or verses which are familiar—though not precisely catching the meaning. Help me to slow down and reflect upon why I won't be standing when the Lord appears. Help me to accept grace-fully the refinement I am experiencing and the rough cleansing experienced that I would wish to avoid in all aspects of my life.

Response: It would be good not to focus on the cleansing and refinement as much as on the transformation, however grueling at times that is occurring—is being applied— in you. Take note, rather of the gold and silver and antique cloth that you represent even when you do not seem to be—in your current state—fit for a king.

Consider who would have considered—much less you—that in enduring the refiner's fire or the harsh scrubbing that seemed endless, you would be who you are unfolding to become in the Lord's presence? Don't be too satisfied though; the fire must be applied further to the edges of this silver masterpiece you represent and the same harsh scrubbing with lye of the majestic cloth—this same regal cloth you had allowed to become shabby. So indeed you are being restored—sometimes roughly—to an innocent beauty cleansed from self-interest, self-absorption, and vanity to become a vessel of compassion, service, love, and forgiveness.

So, do you appreciate why you will not remain standing, when the Lord enters' your presence? Spend a few moments, hours, days, or a life-time considering the question and of course your answer. Praise the Lord.