'Can a man take a fire to his chest and his clothes not be burned?'
-Proverbs 6:27
It's interesting how life can become so ritualistic and habitual. How we can make the same mistakes over and over; knowing and experiencing the consequences and still go back to the place where the pain began. For me, this is the hardest thing for me to comprehend about the Grace of God; that it's continuous. That it goes backward, forward, past, present and future; and I don't have to earn it, work it off or cut off a limb. Grace is empowering, liberating and wholesome; but it isn't the end. We still have those nagging habits; that old lifestyle hanging around, stinking up our room and staining all our clothes... how do we deal with it?
Proverbs 6:27 is specifically talking about adultery, but I want to expand the analogy of a fire so I am going to include all habits that we go to for comfort.
When thinking about a fire, what are its primary purposes? Light and warmth. Now let's use a relationship as an example. I know when I was in a relationship, or at least at the beginning, I felt all warm and fluffy on the inside. That girl brightened up my life for a time before I began to realise that she wasn't perfect, and neither was I. I had experienced the presence of God at that point and she hadn't, so it was inevitable that we wouldn't last. I used her for a momentary comfort, that I knew I would eventually abandon her for the everlasting comfort of God. It wouldn't hurt to say, I was not the most selfless or responsible person back then.
The thing about these 'fires', these little comforts that we fill our life with is they have an expiry. Think of it as if you are trying to keep yourself warm and give yourself light with a match. Either you're going to realise it is not giving you the warmth and light you need, or it is going to burn to the end of its wick and burn you.
Hebrews 12:29 says: 'For our God is a consuming fire.' Nothing is like the presence of God. He is a consuming fire. His fire surrounds; it penetrates us. It fulfils every need we have and every aching hole.
The light of His fire is brighter than the sun. The problem with those 'false fires' is that they leave you in the dark; they keep you blind to the troubles around you and in some cases to the people around you. The light of His fire is brighter than the sun. The sun is the brightest natural thing we will see in our lifetime. God is brighter than that!
You cannot hide anything from God; when you are in his presence everything is exposed. This is not something to fear but to praise Him for, because the fire of God is also a refining fire. He'll take the issues, the struggles and the habits of your life and melt them down to build the armour and the weapons for you to take down strongholds.
'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.'
- Romans 8:28
When discomfort, need or fear comes, draw close to God. I am still learning this; I am a man of many insecurities, but by the grace, love and absolute power of the living God I know that change is coming for me and every one of you.
