written June 6, 2007
I have spent a lot of time in front of the fire in the past 24 hours, as it has been so cold, damp and rainy. I love to build a fire and watch how it starts with an almost instant flame in the tinder. The flame gradually ignites the kindling, and then as these smaller flames quickly ebb into glowing embers, the bigger log slowly begins to smoulder, then glow and finally burst into glorious flame, which can often last for hours.
However, any fire needs to be tended in order to keep it burning effectively. Yesterday as I watched the initial smoulderings of the first log die off without catching full flame, I thought of how our initial feeble attempts at ministry can quickly die off without real power or lasting warmth, if not well-tended. Most flames, if left alone, can subside as quickly as they leap up.
As I looked at my dwindling fire, I saw that the embers were scattered over the bottom of the stove’s belly – each ember quickly losing its warmth and glow. To encourage the fire into full flame, I gathered the embers together, and as I gently blew over them, they seemed to gather energy from each other as well as from the air, glowing a bright, pulsating red and orange, the heat intensifying and suddenly catching flame. So we too must gather together to keep our “glow” and wait for the breath of the Holy Spirit to fan us into full flame. Otherwise, alone how quickly we lose our inner glow and warmth and can no longer ignite anything that may come into contact with us.
Over the course of the evening, I watched several logs burn brightly then gently subside into a gentle and comforting heap of twinkling embers – a constant, glowing warmth inviting a feeding of more wood. As I placed one more heavy log onto the embers, the weight seemed to suffocate the dying embers and left little hope of any further fire. But with a few pokes of the iron rod to create some spontaneous sparks, and with a gentle, continuous whisper of air breathed over the embers, in time a flame once more danced from below and playfully licked the dead weight of the log, transforming it into fuel for the ongoing fire.
And aren’t there times when we are gathered together and feel an undercurrent of warmth and energy within, but yet do not feel any spark that can help us burst into flame? And then we seem to groan under the weight of something dark and heavy laid upon us, sensing that whatever inner potential we had to burst into flame is being choked around us. But just wait … wait for that one prod from God’s hand upon us, for that one almost imperceptible breath of the Holy Spirit to fan us into a fiery, glowing red – and then just watch as what felt at first like an insurmountable weight that was once stifling us is now ignited and burns so brightly in the cold darkness and together we are consumed in the fire, to God’s glory!
The Master continues to add His weight to ours – to give us fuel when we feel we have none; the Spirit continues to fan the embers of our inner passion and devotion into flames of joyful dance, and worship and service in His name in a world that is so cold and dark. And so we burn with delight in His presence!
