Refining 1

The fire is hot
coals underneath glow red
and this is NOT
how I imagined life, in my head

As temperature rises
impurities float
toward the top…surprises
from deep in the moat

Filth, as it reaches
the uppermost parts
is scraped; it teaches
from old ways to depart

The scraping, how painful!
Losing part of what was inside!
In the end will it be gainful
to go through this divide?

Deep down it hurts so badly
to be scraped again.
It’s tough to let go, sadly
of deeply ingrained sin

Uncomfortable in the moment
no pleasure at all
the scrapings foment
healing from the Fall

Sin, deeply ingrained
must be rooted out
the process involves pain,
tears, agony, shout

To let go of something dear
we’ve held on to for so long
doesn’t come without fear
isn’t simply a song

The heating, the bubbling
bad things rise to the top
the Master’s Son’s suffering
a magnificent swap

He took it all upon Himself
bore the penalty of my sin,
gave freedom to be my true self
to be changed–from deep within

But that change can be slow
if I cling to the old
refusing to let that hot glow,
to let a new story unfold

The fire is so hot:
painful while purifying,
Endure! Easy it is not,
yet worth it, the refining.

© Lukas Westevy
2021

Leave a Reply