Zechariah 13:9

"And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God."

There is no better comment on this anywhere than in the writings of the apostle Peter who made this a description of the tribulations that shall test the Christians:

"Now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6,7).

Inherent in this is the necessity that every Christian's faith be tested through tribulations. "It must needs be that offences come" (Matthew 18:7); and, "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22), etc. The faithful understanding of this principle is a source of countless blessings to the child of God. Whenever sorrows are multiplied and "fiery trials" of the most violent and vicious kind descend upon him, he will remember that God is merely testing, finding out, if he really "believes" or not!

And what is the result of the "refining" process? It is stated in the concluding clauses: They will say Jehovah is my God; and God will say, It is my people! Wherever that relationship exists, the "end and all" of living in this world has been accomplished.