The Candle

I wake up this morning, peering into a dark hallway. Cracks of light are sporadically placed down the corridor. It seems to be solemn and without meaning. Dust is everywhere. Something crawls across the floor. A cobweb up in the corner. Yet, there remains a single lit candle in the middle. It burns without shortening. Beyond the candle, you expected more. Coming up to the entrance, the door was ornamented with shiny metals. Polished to perfection, you could fix your hair in it's reflection. Why the deception?

Looking back, someone unrecognizable comes and knocks the candle over. At first, nothing. Then, a spread of fire. It's little at first, but continues to cover a large footprint on the floor. The fire creeps up the wall. The cobwebs begin to dissolve. Creatures begin to scurry out of the path of the flame. You throw water on it, the flame grows hotter.

The hallway is completely consumed. You're expecting to hear creaks and cracks. Why isn't the hallway collapsing? The fire draws back quickly now. It draws back towards the candle. A *poof*. The candle is back in it's place. The hallway is different through. No charred walls or ceiling. The smell of burned wood is non-existent. Instead, the hallway is clean. It's not perfect. Flaws still exist, but the appearance now matches more closely, the door. Simple, perhaps, but no longer a disgusting sight.

An illustration of an unbeliever? Not exactly. This visualizes my life in it's past, present and future. I've grown up in a christian home, been a christian for most of my life. I've also been a great deceiver. I deceived others, friends, family and myself. My life to onlookers was like the door. It was shiny. To onlookers, I was the typical christian home-schooler who didn't do much wrong. I received compliments. Up through Jr. High and high school, I believed even to myself that I was a good Christian. However, I was ultimately like the hallway.

My heart and intentions were ugly. Pride often swelled up in me. I was caught up in more than just pride though. Arrogance is something I struggled with. Purity was high on the chart too. I fact, I'd say it was the problem I struggled with the most, and is what kept me down the most. I lacked passion and drive as well. I didn't know where I wanted go or what I wanted to do.

Something happened though. Someone came and stirred up my life. It wasn't just one person, it was a multiple people. Too many to mention. The candle is the Holy Spirit. Suppressed and inactive because of my own doing. However, the Candle was knocked over and stirred. The flame spread. Up the walls, in the ceiling, along the floor, the fire spread. This seems to be my life at present.

A passion consuming me to which I can't control. When something tries to put it out, it grows. It consumes my being. I have so much I want to do. Goals, expectations and dreams take captive my thoughts. There are ministries I want to be apart of.
I feel that I can also include in this part a feeling of discipline and learning. The flame in the hallway refines and perfects the look, feel and image. I feel myself continually changing for the better. Eventually, the flame will subside and the candle will be replaced.

I hope this is a continuous process. I hope I am constantly being refined and carved. I will never become perfect, but I desire to become a tool for God, not a dirty, grimy hallway.