Turning Up The Heat

I once spent an entire (chilly) weekend sitting by the fireplace - good coffee and good conversations with good company. But I was freezing.

The fire was roaring - logs piled high and fully ablaze. The couch I sat on was mere feet from the fireplace. But I was freezing.

At the end of the weekend, we were hosting a coffee house. In preparation for the night, someone walked by the fire and flipped a little switch - for the fan.

"Dang it!" I thought to myself. I had sat for three evenings wondering how in the world I could be so close to the fire and yet barely feel any of its heat. And all I had to do was flip a silly little switch.

Ever feel like that with God? Maybe you sit in worship services and you know God is there but you just don't feel close to Him. Or maybe you read your Bible, which you know is the living Word of God... but you feel like nothing is really standing out to you. Or maybe you're ministering to others but feel like you could be doing so much more for the Kingdom.

Makes me wonder if sometimes we just need to flip the switch. But what switch? I don't really know. But I think that whatever it is, it's different for everyone. My relationship with God is not the same as your relationship with God. The things that bring me closer to God are different that what may draw you in.

I wonder how many times we are standing, staring the fire of God right in the face, and we think to ourselves, "C'mon! Why don't I feel anything!" We have the desire to go deeper, to grow, to feel something more than what we feel right now. And all it takes is one switch. Maybe the switch is getting things out of our lives that come between us and God. Maybe the switch is spending more time in the Word. Maybe the switch is learning from people who are more spiritually mature. Maybe it's taking a step of faith and doing something you've never done before.

I don't know what turning on the switch looks like for you. But I hope I don't spend my whole life sitting right in front of God's presence but never really feeling it entirely. Today, may you tap into all that God has for you. May you feel the fire AND the heat.