Day 24 of Lent - Middle Kindling

“There is a fire in the soul that comes from beyond, and what the soul does in this life is very much driven by that fire.” ~Ronald Rolheiser

For almost every woman I know, there came or comes a Midlife Reckoning. The temptation is to become content with the ebbing embers and not the full fire.

Another common scenario in midlife is to begin to show up in the world with what the Bible calls (in Lev. 10:1) “strange fire”, telling the world that your faith is undergoing “deconstruction”. All the cool people are doing it.

Sadly, older does not equal wiser. Not always.

But there’s still hope! Anyone can reverse course, and find her fire again. Light equals life. Warmth equals comfort. Without fire, all that’s left is anxiety, depression, and loss of purpose. We are made for so much more in our one-and-only midlife season. We were made for GLORY.

And friend, where there is glory, there is fire!

For I, says the Lord,

will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the GLORY in her middle…

~Zechariah 2: 5

It is possible, as humans, to encounter the fire of God as a lifestyle, and not just a once-or-twice-off experience. A Middle Kindling can be ours - this is so, because the connection forged with the God-man Jesus is real, and He is the one who said:

“I will not

leave you comfortless, I will come to you…”

And come, He did. In the form of tongues of fire that fell on all who were waiting there in that upper room. Say it with me:

“I can and I will receive my very own flame.”

That once-for-all-time sacrifice of Jesus has given us a fiery expectancy that can last a lifetime. It’s wired into your DNA.