Feeling dry? Sometimes you have to stir yourself up.
Just like David had to tell his soul to “Bless YHVH,” (Ps 103:1-2) there are times when we need to fan the flame. Did you know the word for “stir up” or “fan” is anazōpyreō and is only used once. (I love those types of words).
The usage is similar to that which remains of a fire and that by which a fire is kindled anew or lighted up.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
Psalm 103:1-2
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
and never forget any of his benefits
In our house in upper New England, the main source of heat is a wood stove (from 1977 to be exact). If we are to stay warm, it is dependent on us. We have to keep the fire stoked, fed and kindled.
In the mornings, if no one got up for the last fire feeding (yes, it feels like we have a newborn all over again), the stove will have gone cold. But much of the time, if you turn over the ashes, there are some red coals hidden away in the bottom.
With some care at the first, you can baby those remaining embers until you get a small flame. And from that small flame, you can start to feed it small bits of kindling, blow on it, and in a little while, you will have a roaring fire. All from some bits of coal hidden away in those ashes.
As a Believer, sometimes it can feel like we’ve gone cold. We feel like our dreams or purpose have gone cold, we wonder how and why aren’t we using our gifts and we can wake up to what seems like a fire that’s died. And maybe the fire did. Maybe you didn’t take as much care to keep the fire fed and going. Maybe you haven’t had good teaching on spiritual gifts or that you even have one and feel like you should be doing something in that regard, but not sure how. But I promise you this Believer: you still have some embers in there waiting to become a flame again!
As a Believer, sometimes it can feel like we’ve gone cold
Maybe it’s in another area of life. Your marriage, your family life, your job or finances. What about your personal and spiritual development? There are so many areas we can apply this to, but let’s stick to spiritual gifts for now.
You say, “Yep, Amanda, that’s me. For whatever reason, I let the fire go out. Now what?’
Well I’m glad you asked. That is the question isn’t it? How do we fan that little ember back into a healthy flame?
To rekindle a fire, especially in an old wood stove, you need a few things. First off, you’re going to need a little patience. Dumping too much on it too soon will smother it, and that’s really frustrating when that happens. You’re going to need some kindling that will light easily. Some newspaper, small sticks or bark put on there in small pieces until you get a flame. Then larger pieces as that flame grows.
You need some air. If you blow too hard on the embers, they’re gonna go out. And then, again, you’re going to be starting from scratch. But with proper air flow, your small flames will catch and start to spread to the kindling until you can start adding your larger pieces of firewood or fuel bricks.
So what are some practical things you can do to rekindle that fire that you feel you’ve lost? 1: You want to recognize and acknowledge what has happened. Whether life got in the way, there was some hurt, or you just neglected your gift, repent! Tell the Father you are sorry for not using what He gave you and to open up doors of opportunity for you to be able to step out and use them.
Are you a teacher but not teaching? Find ways you can teach others about the truth that is in the Word. Don’t wait for your local church to put you somewhere, start a study, make some video’s.
Are you an exhorter? Find ways to encourage people and come alongside them when they need help.
Do you feel called into one of the 5 Ministry gifts? Are you doing everything you can to learn about the function?
Always be learning, what do you feel the Holy Spirit wants you to focus on? A book of the Bible? A person in scripture? Spiritual Warfare? The prophetic? Healing? Do the work! Read books, watch video’s, take some courses. In this day and age, information is at our fingertips or at least the capability to get it in front of you within a few days, so there is no excuse!
Nextly, put to practice what you’ve learned. If you aren’t using your gifts, that can lead to a lot of frustration and then turn into hope deferred making your heart (mind) sick. Many times, we can feel unsettled and unfulfilled in life if we aren’t using our spiritual gifts. Sometimes we can be the deferrer of our own hope. We wait for the Holy Spirit to grab us by the hand and to put us into situations so we can use our gifts. Maybe we are waiting on the leadership in our local church to recognize some gift in us and put us to use.
Your church leadership should be discipling and equipping you to go out and use your spiritual gifts in your day-to-day life. If they aren’t, find some people you can glean from. This may fall into a fanning your own flame area! YOU are responsible for YOU!
YOU are responsible for YOU!
Once your fire is roaring, you’ll close your doors all the way and adjust your air flow. Too much or too little air will put your fire back out or it will burn too fast. (I’m sure there are more efficient wood stoves now, one is on the list) But I digress…
Pace yourself. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. You don’t want to put too much on yourself (learning too many things at once and not taking the time to settle it in your mind before moving on to the next topic). You also don’t want to do so little that you barely keep that flame going. Set a pace and stay consistent.
Consistency is key!
~enjoy the journey!