No Fire!

I've been thinking even more about fire...the Holy Spirit's fire to be exact...especially after I had a conversation with my oldest daughter last night about a concern she had that was weighing on her heart. Then this morning, just as He's been doing almost daily, the Holy Spirit's timing proved perfect again. My lesson in Living Beyond Yourself addressed the exact concern my daughter had brought to me last night. When I told her about this later, she said, "Okay, that's just freaky!" I replied, 'Yeah, but it's a good kind of freaky.'

So the concern I went to sleep with on my mind and woke up mulling over this morning and turned over to God in my prayer time, He addressed in my Bible study too! I LOVE living by the power of the Spirit!! He is proving over and over and over again that He is in control, I can trust Him and somehow...I will never know how...He puts all the pieces of this massively huge puzzle together at exactly the right time to bring about His good purpose in my life! Wow...Now that's fire!

But as Sara Groves song (see previous post) kept playing on and on in my head, I also remembered a funny story from when our oldest two kids were young. For about a 3-4 year period starting when Abbey was a baby, we frequented a Japanese hibachi-style restaurant in a neighboring town where we lived. This soon became a favorite and I don't even want to think of all the money we spent there during that time. When family was in town or we had a reason to celebrate, that was our favorite place to go. Even now as a vegan, I still fondly remember those meals...they were yummy!

As you might guess, we became friendly with some of the staff. It's sad to say...but they recognized us...more importantly, the recognized our two kids...both blessed with bold, red hair. But what they remembered about our kids is the funny part of the story.

If you've ever been to one of these restaurants, a signature thing to do as they prepare your food in front of you is to stack slices of onion rings in a pyramid, pour oil into it and light it on fire like a volcano. Or they may set the shrimp ablaze right in front of you as they are preparing your meal. Well...this terrified our oldest and as she grew, we either covered her eyes or as a toddler she learned to dive beneath the table when the fire was about to be lit.

The staff became so familiar with us that if we were the only ones at the table, these sweet Vietnamese men would look at us and say (insert Asian accent), "I know...I know...no fire!"

This story probably isn't as amusing to you as it is to me. But I hope the point of my remembrance is as poignant to you as it was today when Holy Spirit brought it back to mind. It's like He was saying, "Yes, Angela...you want fire...but to so many others I have to say...'I know...I know...no fire!'"

Honestly, there've been times I've said the same thing. There've been times when our burdens have been so heavy or I just came out of a time period of growth where He's been painfully stripping away a habit, vice or sin and I've thought, "Lord, please just give me some time of rest!" Or in other words, 'Please no fire right now!'

But about a year ago, my friend, Julie, recommended Forgotten God by Francis Chan and Holy Spirit used it to reignite the coals of my soul. Actually, they may have even been lit for the first time as I truly realized how much He wants to do through my life.

I was on the path as He had laid it before me, but then I lost my focus. I've blogged about this before. It was all for good things...but it wasn't the perfect thing for me...the thing through which His fire could burn.

Now that He's burning in me again and as I attempt to have what I call "laser-trained focus" on God and His specific path for me, I want MORE fire. I want Him to set the world on fire and use me as the match, the tinder, the fuel or the slow burning matter...whatever be His desire for me.

So while I had a little chuckle today, picturing that perfect little red-haired head diving under the table, quick as lightning and the chef saying, "I know...I know...no fire," I've realized just how much I do want His fire! I'm ready to burn!

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