Fan the Flames

Good morning! I hope your week is off to a great start.

Yesterday our family celebrated a life milestone with our oldest son, Christopher, as he graduated from high school. I was tickled last night as he summed up the experience this way: “Seems rather anti-climatic that I spent the last 13 years working towards graduation, only to sit through an hour and a half ceremony and receive a blank, rolled-up piece of paper.” In some respects there is some truth to that statement; however, it is upon the foundation that has been laid over those years that the man he is to become will be built.

This next week we take Christopher to college and move him into the dorms. He will then begin the next chapter of his life, no longer known as Carl and Carol’s boy, but instead known as a Midshipman in the Reserve Officer Training Corps of the United States Navy. It is from the foundation that has been laid within him that he will find the tools and resources to be successful in the next leg of the journey.

This process got me to thinking about our lives and the journey that God leads us on. Notice the words of the Apostle Paul to young Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:6 (NLT)
This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.

We often lose sight of the timeless nature of God. There is no section of our lives (past, present or future) that is unseen by Him. He knows every turn, pothole, detour, washed out bridge, good choice, bad choice and storm of life that we will experience along the journey. Knowing what you would face along your journey, God saw fit to equip you with the tools and resources necessary to complete it.

The key with these gifts and resources is that we each become adept in their usage. Our spiritual muscles are not unlike our physical muscles. When we fail to use these muscles they begin to atrophy and weaken. When we take the time to fan the flames, to exercise these spiritual resources that God has given us, we find that we have exactly what we need successfully navigate the road before us.

As I have reflected on Christopher’s time in my watch care, I find myself questioning if there was more I could have done. The truthful answer is absolutely, there is always more that could have been done; however, I also have the confidence of knowing that God used Carol and me to give him exactly what he needs.

This week I encourage you not to get caught up in the “Pomp and Circumstance,” but instead be glad that you have been given a proper foundation on which to build. God has equipped you with everything you will need; now it is your responsibility to fan it into flame.

Until next Monday, may God’s richest blessings be yours this week.

Carl