“The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the hearts.” Proverbs 17:3

It’s Never Too Hot To Sing!

 I’m outside and it’s hot! I’m beginning to feel grouchy about the heat. I feel that negative attitude erupting inside like a volcano! I am saying to myself, “I can’t breathe. There is no air! It is a furnace out here!”

This thought took me back to a childhood memory of family vacations. Back in those days, cars did not come with air conditioning. When we would drive through Bakersfield, I would literally “bake” in the car. By the time we got to Fresno, I was “fried” in Fresno. My nose was so dry; I kept saying, “My nose, my nose!” My sister still reminds me of “my nose, my nose” episodes in the dry heat. Now, here I am living in Redding! (Now I say, “I can’t breathe, there is no air!” Ha!)

I digress. I was complaining about it being too early in the day to be so hot, and, “I can’t breathe out here, it is way too hot,” when, much to my surprise, I heard one single bird chirping a lovely song in the heat. I believe the title must have been, “It’s never too hot to sing!” If a solitary bird can sing alone in the hot, hot heat, then so can I!

Friends lost their homes last year in the fires, finding themselves truly in the refining pot and the fiery furnace of circumstances. What did I notice in their attitudes, reflected in their countenances and testimonies? Like the little bird, they were still able to sing through the heat of their furnace.

The Lord can use even the song of a tiny little bird to teach us big little lessons. When it gets hot—sing louder, even if yours is the only voice singing! Praise cools you down!

“Thank You, Lord, for those everyday lessons. May we hear the song You send even when we are in the furnace. Thank You for Your refining fire, and testing our hearts, and making clear those “attitude of the heart” corrections.”