Jen Russum

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Digging Deep: The Fireplace

When I am old and gray and my memory is fading, I think I will always be able to recall one memory in my mind. A memory from my 25th year. The hard year and the best year.



I will always remember the fireplace in my parents’ basement.

{via rubyblossom}

Washington winters are dark and cold. Sometimes it feels like the sun never actually rises before it starts setting at three o’clock in the afternoon. The mornings are pitch black and icy frost covers the windshield as you leave for work. On these winter mornings I would shuffle from my bed in the freezing basement and walk out to the rec room. Thankfully, my parents had installed a gas fireplace on both floors of their home, so I would click the fire on and crumple into a heap on the floor in front of it. This is where I spent my minute with God. I would pray, put my Bible on my lap and read, and then pray again. I would ask for God’s mercy. I would confess sin. I would ask Him to make Himself big and real and important to my heart. 

And you know what? He did.
It didn’t happen right away, but over a number of months. Every day, I would curl up in front of the fire and ask God to reveal Himself to me. I would read the Bible and pray and wait and hope. By the time those summer months rolled around and I no longer needed the warmth of the fire, I knew God as I had never known Him before. For the first time, my heart began to understand the depth of my sin, the incredible sacrifice of Christ, and the utter love of the Father toward me through His Son. I continued to turn on the fire anyway during these summer days, because this time with the Lord had become so sacred to me. One minute had turned to many more, and on most mornings I would spend 20 minutes or so reading the Word and praying.
So if you are struggling to draw near to God… if you have a desire to know Him but don’t know what to do about it… find your fireplace. Find a spot. Bring your Bible. Read and pray. Start with a minute. Stretch it to five minutes. Go to the same spot every day and make it your time and your space with God. Don’t neglect to ask Him for what you need. Do you need focus? I think He’d love to fix your mind on Him. Do you need help comprehending Scripture? The Bible says God gives understanding. Do you need a right perspective? God’s Word will reveal your utter wickedness and then show you the extravagant love of Christ that covers your sin. Do you need hope? Ask God to show you that He loves you and that He will carry your burdens. The Lord loves to give good gifts to His children, so as you draw near to Him, ask Him for exactly what you need and wait expectantly for Him to provide it.

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, 
how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:11

Read the rest of the Digging Deep series here…

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