Stoking The Fire!
I have been so excited to share this with you! Ever since moving out to the country life has been radically different for all of us, and one of the big differences for me during these winter months is the fact that I have to make, and keep, a fire going in the fireplace all day long! This may seem like an easy task to you, maybe this is your life everyday too, but for me this has been as foreign as an unknown culture! We depend on our fireplace for heat, and it has been a steep learning curve figuring out how to make a fire and shockingly even more difficult...how to keep one going! I have been most amazed at how quickly a fire dies out! It is a constant business keeping those flames burning hot all day long! I have been rather amused at myself during the day because I will often emerge from these moments waiting for someone to call me “Cinderella!” I have soot all over my face, ash in my hair, smudges on my clothes, and I carry with me the distinct smell of firewood all day! This is a far cry from the way I used to present myself!
Today, I want to share some incredible lessons I have learned about starting a fire and keeping it going. I share this because we often talk about being “On Fire for Jesus,” “stoking the fire of our faith,” “fanning the flame of Christ within us.” When addressing Timothy, Paul writes, “I am reminding you to fan into flame the gift of God...”. Jesus tells us to “let your Light shine before others...” We know that on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came on all, He did so with tongues of flaming fire! Hebrews 12:29, echoing Deuteronomy 4:24, tells us that our God is a Consuming Fire! These are some of the passages that have filled my thoughts as I have been intimately close with many flames lately. I will share a few of the things that I have learned and then talk at more length about ONE of them. I invite you consider the Spiritual significance of each one of these.
1.) A Fire is dependent on an outside force to start it and keep it going.
2.) Some fires ignite right away. The flame catches easily with certain pieces of wood and burns strong, engulfing everything around it, however some fires take a very long time to get going. There are some pieces of wood that do not catch quickly. They are more resistant to the flame, and yet once they get going they burn bright and hot. Finally, there are the fires that begin quickly, and then burn out all together. These seem to burn fast and furious, and then just as quickly they are gone. There was never much substance for the fire to catch hold of.
3.) A fire Must Always be fed! You cannot let it go too long without adding more fuel to the fire. You must pay careful attention to see if it is growing dim and needs to have more fuel added.
4.). A fire burns best when there are many pieces of wood burning together! A single piece of wood is easily snuffed out, but adding another log and another log makes it grow brighter and bigger and more powerful!
5.). A Fire MUST Be Stirred up in order to keep it going!!
This one I want to say more about! This was a new portion of knowledge for me. You see, you can have a fire that has been going strong, burning hot, and yet eventually it will begin to burn down. The wood that has been burning for a while will get smaller and more fragile, and left on its own, will burn out altogether. Remember that a fire is dependent on an outside force to keep it going. At this stage, what I have learned needs to happen, is that the fire must be stirred up! Although it at one point had been burning bright, it has now settled into a comfortable burning process and is slowly growing colder. What I have learned to do has made me stop and think about the Spiritual significance. I have to take my poker and begin to break apart the old wood, causing it to split off from each other, and separate. It is only after it is separated and dispersed, that the flame begins to burn hot and bright again, if fact, even more hot than it was before, ready for new logs to be placed on it. There are many moments in our lives where the One who is the creator and tender of our Fire, can see that the once intense flame of our life is starting to burn low. Maybe we have gotten comfortable where we are, maybe the routine of life is burning us out. It is clear that what is needed in these moments is that the fire of our life be stoked. We need jostled out of our drudgery and stirred up again. We have a master Fire Tender who knows the precise timing for when this is needed, and the precise methods required to see our flames grow hot again. We will, at this time, feel the poker in His hand, on our lives, as He begins to break up the normalcy we have grown accustomed to. He begins to break apart what we have been clinging to, separating us from what we know, and dispersing us in new ways. When this upsetting and shaking up of our lives happens, it may seem counterintuitive, it may seem uncomfortable or even painful to have our lives so broken up, however under His care, the flame of our lives will shoot up again from the hot, dispersed coals. It is His distinct purpose to break up and break off the old, in order to ignite a new flame, an even hotter flame that is ready for New wood to be added. As this happens we will feel the breath of His Spirit blow over us again, flooding us with new oxygen and feeding the spread of the fire within us. Because we were stirred up, broken up, displaced, agitated, we will find we are hotter than ever and filled with the power of new life, ready to engulf all that is around us!
This is the season that my family finds ourselves in. The Lord has broken us off of what had become very comfortable. I believe our flame was beginning to burn low, and He knew it was time to stoke the fire and shake things up. We have been poked, prodded and separated from a log that had at one point been burning bright, and now we are being dispersed and opened up to the blowing of the Holy Spirit upon us again, ready for the new logs God has planned to join us with. If you are in a similar season of breaking apart and stirring up, get ready, because as uncomfortable as it might feel, it is necessary for the fire in you to grow even brighter so that you may shine for Christ, setting the world on fire!
