But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Job 23:10
“But you who escape this world are the part that is gold. For just as gold is tested through fire and thus becomes useful, so also you who dwell among them are put to the test. Those who endure and are burned by them will be made pure. For just as gold casts off its dross, so also you will cast off every grief and tribulation, and be cleansed and made useful for the building of the tower.”
“The Shepherd of Hermas” 24.4, IV, (c. A.D. 70-140) as reported by Bart Ehrman in Lost Scriptures: Books That Did Not Make It Into The New Testament (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003) 264.
I feel like I am experiencing a time of testing. Perhaps you can relate?
May we endure and allow our dross to be cast off, and come forth as gold through the process, so we are useful to God.