Candle Revival

So I'm finally here at college, and this week chapel is all about revival. We sang a song at the very end and the lyrics stated, "Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me." My thoughts immediately turned to a candle.

A couple Christmas' ago I went on a little candle making kick, it was only a kick because it turned out to be a very messy and long process. In order to make the candles I found several old, burnt out candles from around the house, took all the wax out and used it to make a new candle. I did this by melting the wax down. Some of the candles I made from the wax were dipped candles which meant I got a wick and kept dipping it into the wax, let it cool, dip it in again. It eventually grows very thick and you get a candle. Although most of my dipped candles ended up looking the the wax Shrek pulls out of his ears in the first movie, they weren't very pretty. But they sufficed. Dipped candles took a long time to make and it was a tedious process. I soon found I had more wax than I really wanted to use. So instead I found various cups and cans to pour the wax into along with a wick to make a candle. Basically I used the cups and cans like a mold. But I found that if I didn't fill the mold the full way up the wick didn't work very well because it couldn't stand up the whole way. When this candle making kick ended, and my mother and I cleaned the mess up, we had several different candles that we were able to use.

So how does the song and candle making relate? Well if you haven't figured it out already, I'll tell you. The song is meant to describe us but metaphorically the candle could describe us as well. You see, the song is about revival. During my candle making process I went around the house to find old, burnt out candles to use to make into new candles. I was reviving the old candles. Revival means restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength. Revival was taking the old candles, which were dead and useless, and restoring them into something that could still be used and had life. Revival occurs the same way in us. We also become like the old candles at times. We grow apathetic in our faith and we fall into simply going through the motions. We lose our passion and zeal, we lose our flame and we get burnt out. And as far as Christianity goes, that makes us pretty much useless. Afterall, what kind of lights in the world can we be if we don't have any wick left to burn? So we also must be revived like the candles. No, God doesn't put us in a pot over a stove when he is reviving us... at least not most of the time. But we do go through a similar process like that of the candles.

Melt me. Before I could do anything with the old candles I had to melt them down. Their matter had to become flexible and willing to be shaped in the way I needed it to be shaped in order for me to do anything with it. Melting is probably the most difficult part of revival for us. Because melting means we have to change. We have to leave our way of doing things, empty ourselves of ourself, and be ready to do things God's way. We have to let go of our old, burnt out wick so that God can give us a new one. The main reason this is so hard is we are stubborn! Some more than others, but everyone in their own dosage and way, is stubborn. We all have a certain way we want to live and do things. But melting for God so that he can revive us means removing ourselves, changing the way we're used to doing things, and letting God take full control by making us vulnerable and willing in His mighty hands. Sometimes melting is the most painful step, but it is almost the most necessary and basic step.

Mold me. Once I had the melted wax I could start to turn the candles into something that could be used. So I found molds to pour the wax into so that it could be used efficiently. In the process of molding, I also had to find a new wick for the candles. The molding process, while not as difficult as the melting process, is still very bewildering and hard. This is the point in time that God turns us into what he wants us to be. That person isn't always the person we think we can be or want to be. Sometimes the molding process involves a new opportunity like being forced into a new environment, or trying something new like going to college or something crazy like going on a missions trip by yourself for 3 months to Africa. But it's these sorts of experiences that, when we're open to them and willing to step out in faith and do them, God works through in order to mold us. It's life experiences that make us the person God wants us to be. It's daring, crazy, and sometimes really scary life experiences that mold us. But they can only mold us if we are melted and flexible enough to be molded.

Fill me. No one wants a candle that isn't filled the whole way or is already half burnt out. Revival doesn't mean letting God melt us and mold us only to where we are comfortable with and pulling away. We can't let God change us just a little bit and then keep doing everything else our way. God wants to fill us, to complete the work he started in us. When I was making the candles, I kept working on every candle until it was finished. Otherwise the candlemaking process wouldn't have been complete. We cannot truly be revived until we let God take us through the whole process. We as the candles must let God fill us the whole way. This means giving our everything to God. Otherwise we're not truly revived.

Use me. Once God has melted, molded, and filled us, it's time to be used. This is the most exciting part of revival because it's the part that makes everything else worth it. Finally after we've put off with our stubborness, allowed God to throw us into new experiences and adventures, and given ourselves over completely, God can put us to use again! We are no longer a burnt out candle sitting on the shelf waiting for something exciting to happen. We are alive again! We can be put to use. We're not growing apathetic in our faith or just going through the motions, we are truly living. God has given us a new form, and new wick, and he has completed us. And since we have been revived and made whole again, God can ignite us. He can light us on fire with passion for Him, his love, and his world. And once we are candles on fire, we can go and shine God's light on the world.

Transitional Love

I broke up with my boyfriend of 1 year 3 months and 2 weeks today. But I don't really even like calling it a break up. I like to think of it as more of a transition. You see, we had a great run and I still love and care deeply for him. We just got to a point where we were getting along as a couple so we decided to just be good friends, best friends at that. Anyways, this has me thinking a lot about love and what it really is.

Our culture limits love so much. We limit it to the point where when we say, "Well I love you." It can be assumed that there is romantic interest involved. But that's not what love is. Love is not mushy, gushy feelings that we have for someone when we think they're cute. Love is so much more than that. Love is transitional.

There are so many different forms and kinds of love. There's the way you love a family member, the way you love a friend, the way you love a spouse, the way you love someone you're in a relationship with, and so many more. But what we often fail to realize, is that it's ALL love. If you love someone you were dating and then you break up, it doesn't have to mean that you don't love them anymore, simply that you love them in a different form of love. Just because I have broken up with Mark doesn't mean I don't love him, completely on the contrary. I still love him. I just love him in a different shape. The love is making a transition from romantic love to brotherly, best friend love. And just because love makes transitions to different types, it never has to change the quantity or quality of the love.

Love is love. We're the ones that really complicate love by trying to make it a feeling. But love is not a feeling at all. Love is a condition put into action. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about love and names several actions to describe it. Patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, isn't proud, doesn't dishonor others, isn't self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no records of wrongs, doesn't delight in evil, rejoices in truth, it protects, hopes, trusts, perseveres. Love never fails. All of the phrases used to describe love in the Bible are actions. Love is actional. And the greatest act of love is Jesus' death on the cross.

Love is transitional because it never fails. I believe that love is like matter and cannot be destroyed, only transferred into different shapes and forms. In my previous post I mentioned Jesus compares himself to two indestructable things. God is love, yet another indestructable element to describe our God.

Love is transitional. Love cannot be destroyed. God is love.

LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Recent Thoughts

Well, summer is coming to a close and as I approach the beginning of college lots of deep thoughts have been going through my mind.

The first is as I think about myself, my future career, and the person I will become I have realized that every stage I went through, every hobby or interest I had, every previous career option I had.... has all come together into one. It's like all the loose ends of my life are pulling together and I'm starting to become the person that I will be for the rest of my life. I remember in second grade I wanted to be a teacher. However, I also wanted to be a missionary. I don't remember who told me, but someone said, "You can be both." I find it so interesting that now as I pursue an education teaching English as a second language, that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm pursuing a career to be both a teacher and a missionary. How crazy that I knew what I wanted to be as young as seven or eight years old. And all of my hobbies and interests along the way, can be used in ministry. Singing, writing, drawing, being a musician, listening, giving advice. It's so cool to think that God has given me all of these talents with a very specific purpose in mind. I can't wait to see what he does with them.

Secondly, my family took a camping trip over this past weekend and as I was sitting watching the fire burn I had this thought. Jesus compares himself to both water (John 4:7-15) and the light (John 8:12). This is significant because water and light are both indestructable elements. When I was about twelve years old, I was at a summer camp and one of the activities we did was caving. When we were in the cave our guide had all of us turn off our flashlights. There was no light whatsoever in the cave. Then we turned them back on and we could see once again. The point was that the darkness could not overcome the light. Wherever the light reached the darkness could not exist. No matter what, darkness cannot take over light no matter how dark it is. Light cannot be destroyed or overcome, darkness however can. The other comparison is water. Water is also something that cannot be destroyed. Fire, which is essentially the opposite of water, cannot overcome water no matter how hard it tries. Fire can only thrive in the absence of water. And even though water can evaporate, it is never destroyed because it simply reused. Darkness and fire, both rather negative things, can only thrive in the absence of their counter part. How good to know, that we serve a God that is indestructable and good. And that as long as He is present, evil cannot thrive. Though it may seem that evil is taking over at times, he is always in control. That's the kind of God I want to serve.

And thirdly, tonight I went to my friend's benefit. I managed to sing a solo for entertainment and it sounded good, despite the pneumonia! But more importantly, it was simply inspiring. My friend that just recently graduated with me is off to Africa in the fall. And even though she's scared, she's still going. My heart is with her and I am praying for her adventure while she is there. It has amazed me how she has changed from the time I met her in freshman year to how she is now. Quiet, shy, and sweet as was and still is, she is brave. It is amazing how God works in people and changes them. My only prayer is that he does the same in me. "I want to do something so crazy that without God, it would fail."

So basically, it all comes down to one thing. God is awesome.