It only takes a spark

So, as I'm sure some of you know, we recently suffered somewhat of a shock when we awoke in the middle of the night to find our shed on fire. And not just a few flames, but totally engulfed to the point that we pretty well knew it was a total loss as soon as we saw it. Fortunately though, thanks to a few fireworks we had stored in there, we woke up in time to call the fire department and stop the fire before the crazy winds that came in with the cold front caused it to consume the neighbor's shed too. That being said, for a fire to come and consume something of that size and everything in it, and the level of stress we should have probably been under at that point, we felt ridiculously blessed that things weren't worse. Because it easily could have been.

And so that has been on my mind this week. The other day I found myself taking away from the situation what I feel is a bit of an insight of how God is at work within us and the impact that can have.

You see, God is so great. Yet, when He begins a work within us, it often starts out small. Fires are the same. They start with a single spark. And if we tend to that fire, it will grow. And eventually it can't be contained, at least not by you or me. Or anyone for that matter. Trying to contain it would literally be putting God in a box. And that just really doesn't work too well. Because fire needs fed. It needs air. It can't stay completely closed off. If it does, it will die out. And so it will make a way.

Hebrews 12:29 tells us that God is a consuming fire. As Christians, we need to be consumed. And we are called to minister Christ's love to others. The wonderful thing is that if we are truly consumed by the love of God, it overflows. That's not to say that all Christians are all lovey dovey and perfect all the time. Because we aren't...we make mistakes. We are far from perfect. We are sinners saved by God's grace. But we are making an effort to live in love. That should be evident.

"For our God is a consuming fire."

Hebrews 12:29

It shows, even through our humanity. When we live in love, those around us should know. And, whether they want to be or not, they are affected by that. For instance, when our fire started, it didn't look around at the stuff surrounding that spark and say, "Hey, can I light you up? Would that be okay?" It just did it.

God's love and His power are the same way. That's not to say that people don't have to make a choice for God. But just because someone is continuing to live apart from God doesn't mean that they can't be affected by Him through you.

That being said, it only takes a spark. One. Single. Spark. That's all it takes. You think you are inadequate? That's God's spark in you. He is so far beyond adequate. He is more than enough. And so are His sparks.

It only takes a spark. But soon that spark turns into a flame. A fire of God burning. Propelled by the wind of the Spirit, that flame starts consuming things, anything in its path. That which doesn't burn in the flames, melts in the heat. That which doesn't melt, still feels the warmth of the fire. That which is beyond the warmth of the flames, can hear the crackling of the things that are being consumed. That which is out of earshot can smell the burning embers. That which can't smell the smoke can see the flames.

And on down the line it goes. Like a ripple. It started with one. One spark. That spread. How much moreso is God able to work through us?

We have the potential to have far greater an impact for God than we can ever hope to measure. If we let Him in and let Him work, we may see a few things immediately surrounding us that are affected by His fire in us, but we will never know the extent of the "damage". We may never see that someone was watching the blaze because the flames caught their eye against the dark night sky. We may not realize that the wind blew some burning ash out of sight and started a fire far off. And that's okay. We don't need to know. God already knows. He is the omniscient one. We (definitely) don't know it all (as hard as that may be to admit). It's His business to know, not ours. We can quit worrying about that and focus instead on doing what we can to see His fire spread.

So, if you have that spark of God in your heart, stoke it, don't smother it. You too, can be truly amazed by what all God can (and will) do with it. Burn brightly for Him.

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