Something I have never had to deal with in my lifetime is Wet Logs. When I would set up a fire anywhere in Nevada I was always dealing with very dry, crispy, ready to be burned wood. But since we have moved to the PNW and we are living in a home where our primary source of heat is wood, we have had to deal with wet logs. When your heat source is a fire, and you are surrounded with an abundance of free wet wood, you take what you can get and make it work.
Now, you are not supposed if you can help it, burn wet logs, I realize this. Mostly because they just don't burn very well if at all. But also because they let off a lot of smoke(bad for the environment...PNW doesn't like bad for the enviroment) If you were in the wilderness and trying to make a fire with a wet log it would never, ever light. We are not in the wilderness(well it kind of looks like we are) and not only that, we have a blowtorch to help get things started around here. SO don't worry we have plenty of warmth.
Today while making a fire out of some wet logs, I was getting frustrated and impatient. I kept the blow torch on the logs for a good amount of time. I set up the logs just right with some wet and some dry logs. Still after several attempts no fire. Apparently these logs were more than wet, they were saturated.
It got me thinking that this is kind of how my heart can become sometimes. Saturated with worry, fear, bad attitudes, comparisons to others, and countless other things that keep my heart from flame. I keep a fair distance between my heart and God's flames because of fear.
God tries to come in with His blow torch and flames but I am just too dang wet with the world and I miss out on the warmth of His flame. I need others who have been on fire for a while now to help me out.
*** The above blog was written over a year ago on 3/4/10 - It ended there. My need for help. Little did I know a year later so much more of this blog would make sense.
Recently, some friends have really inspired me by their fire like faith, and have set a flame to these wet logs. I had here in my heart saturated logs. They had been heavy with fear, worry, and doubt. They have been watered this past year not with living water, but with compromise, creature comforts, any thing BUT living water.
But then I came across this scripture: 1 Kings 18:33-38
This is a passage in the bible where the prophet Elijah is told to set the stage for God to show up.
He tells people to set up two places where a burnt offering can be made.
One will be to the God Baal and his prophets
and the other to the One True living God.
The one that is set on fire is to be forever known as the Living God, The One True God.
He then proceeds to tell the people on his altar "wet logs" are what he wants.
Not once, twice, but three times he says pour water over these logs.
He does this to prove without a shadow of a doubt that His God, The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob WILL set the logs on fire.
After God set the logs on fire, Elijah said get ready because there will be rain in this dry dessert place.
Again another thing God told Elijah that even though there had a been a drought there was going to be a great rain.
I read this and thought this is what you were up to God.
These metaphorical "wet logs" in my heart have now been set a flame once again.
I have caught the vision of what you are doing and want to continue to do in my life.
No one else gets the glory for that but you.
There is no better blow torch than you.
"So let the rain fall on me, on me, on me.
Let it wash away all my insecurities.
Let the rain fall on me, on me, on me.
Let it wash away all my impurities.
I'm taking it all in
The sounds of beginning again.
It's starting to touch my soul.
It's starting to feel like home.
So let the rain fall on me, on me, on me.
Let it wash away all my insecurities.
Let the rain fall on me, on me, on me.
Let it wash away all my impurities."
