Fire that Wearies Bones

Transition is often fraught with highs and lows as we seek to find the way forward to our God formed purpose. There isn’t anyone who has not felt the weight of such a tumultuous endeavor of grasping with a firm grip, that blessed purpose we were made for. Some seasons we spin our wheels anxiously trying to take hold of the God whispers meant to keep us going while in desert wandering.  A place where we absorb book after book of the holy word of God, purge sin for the sanctification of our flesh, seek the Lord’s will…His confirmation, and await His perfectly timed plan.

Out in the desert, in the painful time of wandering, our bones feel dry. There are different types of dryness in this season, but it all leads back to thirsting after the things of the Lord. In some seasons we need even more of the life saving living water Jesus offers; rich is the Word that replenishes the empty chapped soul. The obvious type of dryness is found when we thirst, empty of the word… Feeing alone without that which communicates the ever present Jesus. The desert leaves us fatigued and lowly in countenance. We drag dehydrated back to the well that never runs dry. Our flesh cries of the self inflicted pride, hectic schedule, stumbling blocks, worldly sin that carried us away in the first place.

The second type of dryness experienced in desert wandering, by accident I just discovered. For me in this desert wandering season, as I bury my eyes in the good book (somehow that phrase doesn’t do it justice) and bow my head in prayer, my bones are dry NOT from a lack of living water. My bones are dry from a MIGHTY FIERY PASSION burning my bones so they feel burnt, as ash…reduced to powder. What?! Oh yes, this desert wandering of waiting on the Lord’s timing has been all consuming. Are my bones even there anymore? Is there anything left of me?

Are there days for you when you feel the God given passion may very well burn you down to the ground if not allowed to come out? The dry bones of desire, those supporting pieces are scorched by the overwhelming nature of His calling on our lives. God spells it out when we need confirmation, who we are. And the fire stokes hotter.

Then we await invitation to advance for God’s glory and purpose. Perhaps we burn brightly for a chance to share the gospel with someone special in our life. Perhaps we await the timing to step into an opportunity to serve where God has whispered we will thrive. Some of us are still waiting on the Lord for the good news of where exactly it is He’s maneuvering us toward. Bones are burning with a glorious passion, hungry to serve our Lord in our specific callings. It’s invigorating and overwhelming. Its hot and all consuming.

Jeremiah says it best…

Oh Jeremiah, praise God for your honesty and the preservation of this plea. When we wait on the Lord’s timing for the word He has already planted in our hearts, it reminds us of the smoke before the campfire starts. We see the wisps of gray forming, but our hope is not in fleeting smoke that will not produce fire if unattended. Our hope is in the fire that will burn and produce the heat we seek to glow outwardly warm and bright for Jesus, our King. The full flame that draws the family in for warmth and treats of goodness… grace. The tangible flame that beckons all out from the dark. The yellow warmth which lights the way.

Jeremiah goes on to explain even more of how our bones, weary of shutting up the burning flame of the Lord, are not just scorched dry. Not only do we struggle to contain the flame, but it also chips away at us. The flame overwhelms, we cry out how can we endure it? But then our bones no longer sturdy like rocks attempting to hold in the heat, they’ve been broken by His hammer. A hammer of righteousness meant to break away the rough edges, the hardness, the bitter edges that threaten to bring low the height of the flame. The stability of self, no longer holds up our structure.

So we are set ablaze and broken for God’s glory stories. The heat is shut up within, then stoked. We take witness of the hammer breaking the hard in us, in others.  God’s word… God’s actions… How can we sit and not proclaim. In this season of wandering, we await to be entrusted with people and places to answer His call. We wait for the allowance of this pent up fire… a pressure of heat similar to a volcano to rise up, overflow, finally pour out.

God’s word is too hot to withhold from others, too precious to keep from the parched. God has whispered promises to us, we sit and wait with great expectancy. Lord we cast our cares on you. Fulfill our calls, let us walk out our purpose. Let not the fire swallow whole our bones, but break the self and support that which is yours. Nor allow anxiety extinguish the God fire in our bones.

Confusion can come in waiting, distorting what has been confirmed. The thief comes with an extinguisher looking for ways to eliminate the fire. Our God given passion so ablaze flesh could not produce it, yet the devil leaps at every chance fear and doubt offer. Keep walking through the desert sisters in Christ. Keep those fiery bones stoked with the delight of the Lord. Hide His word in your heart, let the Holy Spirit overwhelm. Write down the purpose and plans God whispers. Grasp the record tightly in your grip. Bend the knee, fall flat on your face with me. Our purposes, our God given fire long to be let out.