SMOLDERING SPIRIT OF FAITH
The Bonfire
A few weeks ago my wife and I were visiting our good friends in southern Mississippi for a long weekend. Our friends have a beautiful farm and homestead surrounded by acres of hardwoods, pines, and bushes. Over the summer months they had collected a pile of dead hardwood trees, a few felled pines, and a large collection of Yaupon bushes. We decided on one beautiful night with the stars and full moon shining brightly, we needed a bonfire to celebrate autumn.
From a safe distance, my friend Skip stuffed some old papers and cardboard into the pile of logs and brush, and lit the fire. After just a few minutes the dried out grasses and brush were quickly engulfed in a magnificent blaze. Shortly thereafter, the pine logs took off as well with some intense flame and heat. Skip and I took turns braving the intense heat to continually rake the unburned brush, Yaupon bushes and grasses into the flames to help ensure the hardwoods would catch fire and begin the longer lasting burning process.
The Stubbornness of the Yaupon
As the flames died down from the quick burning material being consumed, the hardwoods kept the bonfire’s intensity at a white hot level, waiting for the next batch of Yaupon bushes or split pines to be thrown over them to ignite into a huge blaze of light. One thing I learned that night was that the Yaupon bushes stubbornly did not want to burn unless they were touched directly by the intense flames. Nevertheless, over the course of a couple hours, the dead, dried-out brush and pine logs finally turned into smoldering ash, while the fully engulfed hardwoods kept a steady amount of smoldering embers that burned throughout the night.
Later that night as I was headed for bed and a good night’s sleep, I reflected on how that bonfire symbolized the burning passion that I had found just a few years earlier in my heart and soul for the Lord. I fell asleep thinking of making a juxtaposing twist to the meaning of Proverbs 26: 21; “As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a spiritual (quarrelsome) man for kindling truth (strife).” In other words, the original passage reflects how quarrelsome people keep trouble stirred up, fanning the flames of strife for others. However, my contrasting interpretation shows how a devoutly spiritual person can continue to feed the search for truth in this world.
Is That All There Is?
The next morning I went out to the field to assess the remains of the bonfire to now find only the pile of ashes in a circle of scorched earth. Seeing the ashes reminded me of the Biblical passage – “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust”. But is that all that we will ever become once our days on this side of heaven are finished and the Lord calls us to His kingdom?
From a purely physically perspective that will be the fate of my human body, but as a Christian, I know without a doubt that my soul and spirit will live on for all eternity in God’s kingdom we call “heaven”. Recalling the bonfire from the night before, it inspired me to reflect on the path of my faith over these many years. Others may have experienced similar paths as well.
In God’s own divine ways, He laid many dense logs of hardwood (faith) deep in my heart and soul decades ago in preparation for the catalyst of the Holy Spirit to ignite them for a long burn of faith. And like many others when the Holy Spirit brings that spark to ignite the fire, it’s initially very intense.
I’ve read and experienced for myself the passion for the Lord that is so intense you believe you’d scorch those nearest to you. But just like those dried branches, bushes and grasses that burned up quickly, so my passion for the Lord subsided as well. The underlying hardwoods of faith had not caught fire yet. They needed much more time and attention to ensure the flame was true; that it would last beyond a few days or weeks. As Jesus described in Matthew 13:23, how “when one received the seed that fell on rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He prospers to yield a bountiful harvest from what was sowed”, so my smoldering faith needed more time to grow into a worthwhile harvest.
My Stubbornness
In some ways, I believe my reduced level of passion for the Lord was brought on by my stubbornness of believing I knew what was best for me. I was unwilling to surrender my plans to the Lord and ask Him for guidance. Trying to get those stubborn Yaupon bushes to burn despite the intense heat surrounding them reminded me of my folly in believing I was smarter than God for determining my path in life. Luckily, the Holy Spirit inspired me to see the error of my ways and turn back to God for guidance.
That divine guidance became increasingly more apparent as a product of the time I spent with the Lord in quiet contemplation, reading His Word and learning His Truth, and listening to His inspirations. Thus the smoldering embers of love for the Lord gradually took hold of my deeply recessed hardwoods of faith. Those hardwoods of faith in my heart and soul have carried me and I’m sure you as well, through many episodes of doubt, anxiety, and impatience with my life. Little did I realize the reason for God putting those hardwoods of faith deep into my soul many years ago was because He knew I would be needing them to keep the fire burning and enable me to pass the torch of love for the Lord along to others.
God’s Eternal Fire of Faith
Above all, I learned that once God has ignited your inner fire of faith in Him, that fire would never go away or be snuffed out. God’s love is eternal no matter what we do. It may lie there as a smoldering ember for days or years waiting for the right time and circumstances to reignite the passion and burn with a white-hot intensity for bringing honor and glory to God. And with that reignited passion, we need to be BOLD in our Christian actions for showing our devotion to God by following His teachings and truths.
In this year of unprecedented events, where passions for wickedness, hatred, bigotry, prejudice, and injustices are at an all time peak, we Christians MUST stand up, put on the Armor of God, and fight the Evil One. We must fight to restore righteousness and enable our passions for love, caring, kindness, fairness, justice, acceptance, and peace to triumph over evil in this world. With God’s help we can do it.
Reigniting Our Faith Now
Right now, we are fighting for the very soul of this country and the world. Now is no better time, today is no better day to launch a Jesus Revival. We must join together to restore our Nation and climb the mountain to reignite the beacon of hope, freedom, liberty and justice so all the world can see how great God is to these United States of America and her people.
Let us all pray to God to reignite our faith, be on fire for the Lord, and instill a “boldness of mind”. Let us confirm our commitment to His truths, and burn with a white-hot intensity to join with others during this unprecedented year of unprecedented events to grow closer to God and to each other with the goal of restoring our Nation as a God-fearing people.
Live, Learn, and Grow in Jesus!!
Blessings,
Jerry
