Thawing Out

I said yesterday was an interesting day. I also said yesterday that the weather was turning nasty here in Kansas City. Well today, when I was ready to get out, run some errands and head for the prayer room, it took me ONE SOLID HOUR to thaw out my car. There was so much ice on the car that the doors were frozen shut. I knew better than to tug on the door handle in order to free the stuck door - that only results in a broken handle. So I bumped the door a few times (gently) with my hip and my shoulder. I (gently) hit the top of the door with the palm of my hand and finally I was able to get the door open. Key in the ignition - turn - the engine roared to life and I was on my way. I sat inside for a long time as the motor warmed up. Finally, the defroster began to blow warm air - and I waited - and waited. There was no reason to begin the scraping process, yet. That would have been a lot of wasted effort - the ice was too thick. Finally, I was able to see little circles forming above each vent - signalling that progress was being made. I continued to wait - the circles grew larger. Mind you, these were not breaks in the ice, these little circles were just places that the ice was no longer stuck to the glass. Finally, I was able to begin scraping. It was a long slow process and since it's impossible not to see the obvious spiritual analogy in this, I'll go ahead. Sometimes our hearts have grown so cold that it takes a long time for the warm breath of the Holy Spirit to break through - and the best thing to do while that warming process is going on is to just sit and let Him breathe on you. Don't rush ahead and attempt to scrape away all the icy veneers created by sin and complacency. Just wait. Don't help the Holy Spirit - don't resist, but don't help. Just sit and wait. There will come a time when you can take an active role in your freedom, but that won't come for some time. It's important to just sit and let the warm breath of the Holy Spirit work on your cold heart. Before you know it, He will ask you to join the process and in no time, you will be back in His service. So how do you sit? You stop everything and pray. You shut it all down, and give yourself to God's Word and prayer. It may seem that you are wasting time, but you aren't. You are actually saving time and preventing much frustration and in the end, you will be much better for it. For you will realize that you had nothing to do with the thaw - it was all - and I mean ALL - the work of God.