ROOTED IN LOVE â—½ HOME
“For You will light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.”
Psalm 18:28
​
Earlier this year, when it was really cold outside, my family enjoyed having a fire in the fireplace. It’s so nice to do our school assignments next to the fire or just sit and drink hot chocolate.
​
I don’t know why, but I really like the process of starting a fire. I like crumpling up pieces of paper or cardboard and laying them on top of the grate, then piling sticks on top of that. Then comes the real test – lighting it and coaxing the sticks into catching fire. And when you’ve finally got enough heat built up, you can start to add bigger pieces of wood, stoking it and watching it grow. Eventually, you’ll start getting hot coals that keep everything nice and toasty, and you won’t have to tend to the fire except to add more logs.
​
Being the writer I am, I can’t just make a fire. I have to mentally compare it to life. Specifically, I found myself comparing it to walking with God.
​
You can’t just jump right to the flame. First, you have to have a foundation. There has to be something to burn. And that’s just like a relationship with Jesus.
You have to build a foundation first. You have to learn about who He is. You have to understand your need for Him, realizing that life is pretty pointless without Him.
​
Then you can light the flame. You can give your life to Him and watch His light start to shine. Sometimes there are false starts. Sometimes things burn out before the fire really catches, so you have to start again. Uncertainty can suffocate your flames, leaving you choking on smoke. But you can always try again. There are no limits to how many times God will welcome you into His arms.
​
Only after putting in the work, stoking the flames and feeding the fire, will you truly begin to burn. Your heart becomes something entirely new, forged and fashioned after God’s desires instead of your own. You start to radiate a warmth from the inside out – a light that you could never emanate on your own. It’s His light and strength that live in you now, His power that resides in your heart. And the longer you lean on Him, the easier it becomes to trust Him in everything.
​
Not that faith makes life easy. It doesn’t. And having faith also doesn’t mean that you won’t sometimes burn out. That happens too. Sometimes the pressure of life can be too much and it can snuff out your flame. But underneath the ashes, there are still hot coals just waiting to be breathed back into life. All it takes is a little bit of stoking, and you’re burning once again. Because God’s light never goes out. He’s always shining in our hearts, even when it’s hard to see it. Even when we feel cold or empty or afraid. Even when we mess up or fail or take the wrong path. No matter where we go or what we do, we can always trust Him to revive our hearts again.
​
All we have to do is surrender ourselves to Him, again and again and again, knowing that He is the only true way. Without Him, we are nothing but ashes blowing in the wind. But through His strength and His grace, we are glowing embers. Burning for His glory. Bringing His light and warmth to the world. And that’s something we can always get back to, if we only stoke the coals.