My soul is like an empty house and my heart, a furnace.
"...if we love one another, God abides in us. And his love is perfect in us." -1 John 4:12
After a much needed get-away at my parents' over Christmas, we returned to our big, old, drafty home on the other side of the state to find a very, very cold house. It isn't fun when you come in from below zero temperatures and it is only in the 40's inside. So many things are running through your head. Is the furnace broken? What will this cost? What will it take to fix it? Will it cause damage to the house?
Coming up from the basement, my husband confirmed what we already knew, the furnace wasn't working. The only hope was that we could just light the pilot-that something had caused it to go out, and all we needed to do was start a flame.
A trip to the store for a lighter, ten minutes of trying, waiting, and trying again, and success...the flame took and the furnace was back in business.
Over the course of my life, my heart has become so much like that furnace and maybe yours has too.
Experiences, over time can cause the pilot to go out and our hearts turn cold. So many things can put out the fire...broken relationships, death, injustice, fear, financial hardship, sickness, loss...this world is full of cold disappointment. Then it begins to spread around us to those people in our paths and the things we do.
I don't know if you've ever found yourself with a cold heart, but I have. And then so many things go through my head...Is it broken? What will it cost me? Can I fix it? Will it forever damage me?
Even though I'm a preacher's daughter (and of an amazing preacher I might add), I used to think that I was good in my soul and knew what I believed so it didn't matter if I went to church on a regular basis or not. I figured I could teach my children everything they needed and that all would work out in the end.
What I learned from the pilot going out on my heart, was the only answer to my questions was Jesus.
My first grade son came home from school a couple months ago and mentioned that he had talked to a friend about having Jesus in his heart. How awesome, I thought! He then said that his friend asked Jesus into his heart and then told him he felt all warm inside....music to a mama's ears.
But isn't that the truth? He is the source of warmth for the heart and, therefore, the soul. I needed to get to a church and light the pilot. I needed to surround myself with the warmth of people whose pilots were already lit, whose hearts were full of warmth and who then were themselves sources of warmth for those around them. I needed to thaw the cold heart within me so I could be sure to light the fire for the hearts around me who needed me.
It didn't take long at all to find people with these hearts, people who changed mine. Those loving hearts along with the message of Jesus, lit my pilot and warmed my soul.
We have a choice to remain cold and independent, frozen from life's disappointments or to light the fire within our hearts with the love and compassion of a savior...and pass the flame, not the cold, to those around us.
Very well put Andrea! There is so much negative in the world and also inside people today. There are circumstances that are inevitable and at some point in everyone's lives, you will face sadness, hurt, disappointment, etc. What people need to learn to do, which sometimes is easier said than done, is look for the "light" and realize that even though there is negative, there is a positive in every situation! Very well said for this time of year. Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!
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