We woke up this morning to 23 degrees. Brrrr!
I opened the firebox door to get a fire started, and a cold draft rushed down the chimney and into the house. “That’s going to be a problem,” I thought, “the flu is blocked with cold air. That’s going to be a problem.”
The entire time I was cleaning out the ashes and loading the firebox with starter wood and kindling, the cold draft continued to rush down through the chimney and into my home.
“It’s ok … there’s a glass door I can close … it will keep all the smoke contained within the firebox while the fire gets going and the flu clears of the cold air.”
So like normal, I lit the kindling, got the fire going … then closed the glass door.
Smoke swirled inside the firebox! The smoke could not get up the flu … because the flu was blocked by cold air.
“It’s ok … the door is closed … the smoke is contained.”
But it was not ok.
Smoke continued to build up within the firebox … but the heat was not yet enough to push the cold out the flu.
I glanced over to check on the fire … and a thick billow of smoke was pouring out from the air-intake valve!
“No! No! No! No!” I panicked, as I hurried over and closed the intake valve! A thick heavy cloud of smoke was now hanging suspended in my living room!
I immediately grabbed a bathroom hand towel and began wildly fanning the smoke to dissipate it. I rushed to turn on the bathroom exhaust fan … I rushed to turn the ceiling fan on high … I rushed to open a kitchen window.
The world out there is a cold place! Each of us head out each morning to our place of employment to work a job and earn a paycheck. But it’s really cold out there … at any moment, throughout any given day, we find ourselves criticized, “thrown under the bus,” and sometimes even “canceled.”
Our kids have to go to school and face peer pressure … and bullying … and be immersed in thought processes which are contrary to God’s Word. It’s really hard!
Then we each come back home.
Home is a “safe place” where the “fire” of our soul can be rekindled. However, we’ve had so much cold drafting down at us all day long, the “flu” of our soul has become blocked by all the cold.
When the “fire” is fanned in the “firebox” of our soul, there is now nowhere for the “smoke” to go … the “smoke” of everything we’ve dealt with throughout the day … the “smoke” of how we’ve been treated … the “smoke” of all the ungodly ideologies we’ve had to deal with.
There’s nowhere for the “smoke” to go … it’s hard to process it all. And so, the “smoke” swirls around inside us … inside the “firebox” of our soul.
When it’s been a particularly bad day … and we’ve dealt with so much cold! … on these days the “smoke” builds up so much within the “firebox” of our soul that it then begins spilling out the “air-intake valve.”
The air-intake valve on a fireplace allows fresh air to be breathed into the firebox in order for the fire to get the oxygen it needs. So also, the “air-intake valve” of our soul is when those whom we love breathe encouragement and fresh life (aka – oxygen) into our souls.
However … out through the “air-intake valve” smoke pours out of our heart!
We’re short and snappy. We say things we don’t really mean. We push away those who love us and care for us.
“Smoke” … out through the “air-intake valve.”
Because we’re confused and hurt … and struggling, deep down.
As far as the smoke-billow in my living room this morning … over the next hour I kept ventilation going with the fans, and made sure to pull in plenty of fresh air!
So also, when it comes to “smoke” in our homes and relationships with those whom we love, it takes time to “clear the smoke.” It takes time … and patience. And plenty of healthy fresh air!
If someone whom you love is “pouring out smoke” … give them some time … and plenty of patience! And keep pouring “fresh air” into their soul!
