His Warmth Never Fails

I was writing my next post about preparing for power outages, as I was writing about heat sources and my parents’ old wood stove the Holy Spirit started to speak.

I remember the smell of the smoke as dad would light a fire in the old wood stove. Once the flames grew, the sound of the wood would pop and crack and the fan on the side of the stove would blow out heat. Fans would blow and circulate the hot air around the house making it comfortable for everyone at home.

But when the lights would go out and the humming of the fans stopped something else happened… the other rooms in the house became silent and cold. The wood stove was in the center of the old farmhouse and whenever the power went out everyone including the animals would congregate around the stove for warmth.

Mom would take her big stock pot and fill it with ingredients to make soup on the stove for everyone. Before we knew it the whole family including would be gathered around the small room eating bowls of soup and staying warm together. No distractions from TV’s or other technologies, just family talking, laughing, and eating together. 

God is like an old wood stove. He’s always there in the center of everything with a burning desire for his children to gather around him. He wants to bring warmth to us in a cold world that is cut off from him. He wants to feed us and nurture us when our connection is lost. He brings everyone together again even after they’ve drifted apart.

When all power from the world fails you, gather around God and let his warmth power your soul and light your path. Just as wood fuels the fire in a stove, so does the word of God in your heart.