When You Walk Through Fire

As long as you still have the breath of life in you, you are bound to go through fire. If you do not want anything to do with the fire experience, your prayer should be short and simple. Pray to die. This is the only escape route. “When” you walk through the fire not “if”. “If” is a conditional word but “When” is a word of certainty, it is definite. That means you will pass through fire at one point in your life or the other.

The fire experience could consist of moments when:

• No one understands you, and soon you can’t understand yourself.
• You think God has abandoned you.
• Nothing puts a smile on your face.
• Those that always stood by you begin to watch you from afar.
• You think you’ve failed and lost everything you gathered for years.
• The things or person that made you happy makes you weep.
• People tell you “We know how you feel,” when they really don’t.
• You begin to harbour suicidal thoughts.
• Your eyes remain wide open through the night and you can’t sleep.
• It appears God is silent over your situation.
• You shut yourself indoors not because you want to pray, but because you’re ashamed.
• Your plans yield the worst results.
• Loved ones misunderstand and give wrong interpretations to your words and actions.
• Your wealth and financial strength cannot help your situation.
• You begin to get used to the fire.
• Every step you take forward takes you two steps backward.
• Your dreams become a mirage.
• Friends become foes.
• Your body gets used to all manner of pain, that you go out of your way to seek pain when it’s not there. Thus, pain becomes a kind of comfort.
• No one believes in you, and you believe less in your dreams.
• The place that gave you comfort and peace begins to choke the life out of you.

“We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed,” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). The good news is that you cannot be crushed, God hasn’t abandoned you, and your fire experience cannot destroy you. Instead, it will bring out the best in you. Many times, people (especially church folks) love to run away from the fire experience. We think we’re immune to it. We’re taught to pray all manner of prayers and see the Devil in what we’re going through. However, the truth is that during the fire experience, the intensity of your prayers, fasting, and spiritual exercises won’t stop the fire. Don’t think that running to churches or pastors for help will shield you from the fire. The fire may even be ignited from your place of worship and from people you trust and hold in high esteem even in the church. All these are for a reason and a season. No matter how you pray summer away, it won’t go until its season is over. I’m not saying we should fold our arms when faced with the realities of life challenges. What I am saying is that we should understand the best is yet to come. We should seek God and learn what he wants to teach or tell us with that unpleasant experience. We should understand that we sometimes need the fire experience to move to the right level.

In fact, some of us need something or someone to provoke us so we can move to where God expects us to be. Some of us will be very comfortable where we are and never maximize our potentials until something comes to steer our lives and challenges stare us in the face. Goliath needed to challenge the children of Israel for David to discover that part of him that was never revealed. Recall the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. Peninnah had to provoke Hannah. Hannah prayed the way she had never prayed before. She had to make a vow she ordinarily wouldn’t have made if her womb was not shut and you know the rest of her story. Do you remember Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4? His own fire was from birth. Do you remember his prayer? You know the rest of his story.

“When” you walk through the fire not “if”. “If” is a conditional word but “When” is a word of certainty, it is definite. That means you will pass through fire.

For some of us, the fire began from birth, but I’m happy to announce that the fire will quench soon. Hold on, as your story will soon become your glory. I remember a fire experience I had a few years back. I saw my dreams crumbling before my eyes. I sought God anywhere I was told I would find Him. I did everything I needed to do just to escape the fire. Meanwhile, in the midst of the fire, I discovered I became closer to Him. By the time the fire stopped burning, I had gotten much closer to Him than before. I understood later that God wanted to bring me closer because I bluntly refused to acknowledge Him. For some, God wants you to acknowledge and seek Him. Recall the story of King Asa in 2 Chronicles 16. King Asa was afflicted with a disease on his feet. The Bible makes it clear that King Asa didn’t seek help from God, but physicians only. The disease killed him not because it wasn’t curable, but because he refused to seek God. Earlier in his reign as king, he always sought God, who had blessed him. Once he had enough wealth he thought he could use to get whatever he needed, God was eliminated from the picture. Seek Him!

For some, the fire experience is a time of self-discovery. You may be going through that unpleasant situation now. Not because you deserve it, but because God wants to use you to help those that will go through that same experience. Moses had to first go through the wilderness alone before he could lead the children of Israel through it. He knew the terrain and what to expect because he was familiar with the wilderness. Most people come out better when they’ve passed through the fire experience. Your dreams, aspirations, and God’s purpose for you is still very much valid. Nothing you are going through now can invalidate His purpose for you. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning,” (Psalm 30:5). I don’t know what you are going through now, but I want to encourage you. You may have heard this kind of message over and over again. It may not make sense to you any longer but understand that you’re not alone.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. He sees every tear that falls. He is still very much interested in you. You are not on this planet by mistake. Make Him your true friend. It’s only in Him you will find grace to come out clean from the raging fire. You may think you’re being punished for your sins. This is a lie Satan wants to sell to you. Whatever you’re going through now was allowed by God for a reason and it cannot happen without His permission. Don’t give up. Never allow the thought of giving up to settle in your mind. Nobody else knows how you feel except Him. Stick to Him, His word, and His promises. Stay strong and positive. Hold on and hold out because your best is yet to manifest.

This was first published in the August 2014 edition of Believers Life Magazine