Fried Eggs on the Sidewalk

It was hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk (at least the darker sidewalks). For most of last week, our region (and many others) experienced an intense heat wave. Air temperatures were over 100 degrees, and thick humidity pushed the heat index to nearly 120 degrees at times.

It was beyond hot. It was dangerous. Even the community pool provided very little relief (the water temperature reached 93 degrees at one point), and air conditioners were strained to their limits. It was so hot that regular everyday decisions like going outside for a walk had to be reconsidered with the weather in mind.

People were irritable as a result. And to be clear, by “people,” I mean me! The heat was oppressive and restrictive, and it made me cranky. I was uncomfortable and I didn’t like it. I suspect I am far from alone in this, but I will speak conclusively for only myself: The heat made me grumpy!

I feel a similar negativity about figurative heat in my life—and on this point, I will take the liberty of making a safe assumption that you do too. Heat in your life comes in all shapes and sizes. It comes in challenges, trials, obstacles, and opposition. Perhaps most pointedly, it comes through relationships. You are an imperfect being. So am I, and so is every person you encounter. These imperfections and differences create friction, and friction creates heat.

If hot weather causes crankiness, just wait until the heat of life and relational friction hits!

It is not fun. It is uncomfortable. It is something most of us will go great lengths to avoid. Just as we will reorient our schedule to avoid the outdoors during a heat wave, you and I will reorient our lives to avoid the heat of relational friction.

But that is not always the best decision. Sometimes, the heat of the moment is exactly where you are called to be.

To be clear, you and I need to exercise prudence and wisdom, and scripture is clear we are to avoid the heat of useless quarrels (2 Tim. 2:23, Tit. 3:9, Pr. 20:3) and folly (Pr. 19:3).

However, time and time again, the Word of God reminds us our refining process requires heat!

“But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver” (Mal. 3:2-3).

“This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God’” (Zech. 13:9).

“See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction” (Is. 48:10).

My friend, I have no doubt you dislike the heat of refining. I have no doubt you want to avoid exposure to it, and you prefer the comfort of the cool. But your God longs for your purity. He desires your refining. He sends heat—especially through relationships—to see to it that you are becoming more like Him.

You might feel like the egg frying on the sidewalk. But the truth you can stand on this week is this: You serve a God who loves you too much to leave you as you are, and He is using the heat in your life to refine you, and to produce a treasure worthy of His name.

After all, you bear His name (Is. 43:1). That honor is worth enduring far more than a little heat.

The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.