My Big “G” God

by Debbie Allen

There is a flame that burns within the hearts of all God’s children which needs to be continually fanned; or it will die out and even the world around us will suffer its loss. This flame is a measure of our love for God Himself. It is meant to be tended, nurtured and at times, even fanned by the very Hand of God.  The flame is an indicator of our level of devotion to His Word, His Truths, and His Presence down inside of us. It reflects the depth of our passion toward His Purposes. The fan that keeps this flame burning brightly is, in part, all the intentional efforts we make towards fueling that flame… or not.  Reading our Bibles daily…or not.   Storing up His Truths in our hearts…or not. Choosing to walk in humble obedience to the tune of God’s Voice…or not. All of these choices fan the flame brighter which in turn, sheds greater light on our life-paths; providing us with the perspective and passion needed to see and share God and the Truth of Who He really is. The flame is a testimony of the reality of God; both in our lives and in the world around us. In the words of Pastor Tony Evans, “God longs to be more than just Theology on a shelf.  He wants to be real to you right now.”   (CSB Tony Evans Study Bible, pg. 1465, copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers).   You see, God is only as real to you as you choose to let Him be.  But if your flame is burning too dimly, you just may miss His Presence standing right in front of you. 

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“God longs to be more than just Theology on a shelf. He wants to be real to you right now.” —Tony Evans—

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A few years ago, working at a local Middle School, I experienced my own dimly lit flame in a very unique way.  The day started off a little rough.  My morning prayer-time was cut short due to my alarm not going off; so, I rushed to get to work on time.  I headed straight for the Girl’s Locker Room where I began each of my work days, supervising teen girls.  As I stood in my usual spot, waiting for the final bell to ring; my ears were busy trying to sift through fifteen teenage girls’ conversations; all going on at the same time.  Most of them I labeled girl drama.  However, one conversation in particular captured my attention. One of the girls asked another to “…Just name off what you like the very most about your life!”   Without even the slightest hesitation, the other girl answered, Oh, I like Jesus and Dr. Pepper!”  If I had any doubts about what I’d heard her say, the girl who posed the question, repeated it again out loud. I think even she was surprised by her friend’s response.  It was comical; and I couldn’t keep from smiling at the very thought of hearing Jesus in the same sentence as Dr. Pepper.

 Until that moment, I’d never even considered the beautiful reality that Jesus was standing in front of me every morning I entered that locker room; in the form of that young girl!  That moment for me was not just Jesus revealing His Presence to me in a most spontaneous and unexpected way. It was the very Hand of my Heavenly Father throwing a much-needed log on the dimly-lit flame inside of me; fanning my flame to bring new warmth to my dull heart; and lighting my path… even in the dark and forgotten corners of a Middle School Locker Room.

I experienced the warmth of that moment throughout that day.  Walking back to the school Office, where I spent my time between trips to the Locker Room; I found myself asking God what I could do to bring that kind of warmth to His Own Heart?  Little did I know it, but God was about to give me an opportunity to do just that.

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“God, is the God Who cares about every detail of your life; including how brightly the flame down inside of you is burning.”

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Later that day, I was tackling an endless stack of typing that I did regularly for one of the Teachers. Though the work seemed too repetitive for me to find it interesting; I discovered a typo on her original copy that made me glad I was the one doing the typing for this v-e-r-y New-Age thinking Literacy teacher.  The sentence on the test I was typing read like this: “Some people believe that there is only one true god, but the Greeks and Romans believed in many gods.” 

Without a moment of hesitation, I smiled to myself as I came to the part of the sentence that said, “…there is only one true god.”  Now I knew why I’d been chosen to do this monotonous typing!  God put me in charge of correcting the biggest typo ever in that sentence.  His Name was spelled wrong!  So…I promptly corrected it typing,

“Some people believe that there is only One True God, but the Greeks and
Romans believed in many gods.”                                          

Though I could’ve breezed over that typo and never looked back…I knew in my heart that God is a God who cares about every detail concerning my life and how bright the flame within me burns. My desire was to change how every student who read those words on that test for years to come, would see God.  With a few strokes on a keyboard, I took what the world perceived as a small “g” god, and revealed Him for Who He really is.  The One True Big “G” GOD! This was my opportunity to bring a measure of warmth to the Heart of God; as He had to my heart, earlier. Making this simple change reminded me of exactly why I climbed out of bed today…and every day.  It was and always is… for His Name’s Sake!

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PRAYER: Dearest Heavenly Father, forgive us, Your children, for the flame which burns so dimly inside of us at times. The flame which too often fails to stir the senses of the world around us to Your v-e-r-y Real Presence in our lives. You have chosen us out of this world to burn brightly for Your Glory. For Your Name’s Sake, fan the flames within us. Make us into vessels of honor, instruments “…for noble purposes, made holy and useful to our Master and prepared to do any good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21) Fill us with renewed perspective and faith enough to side step the spiritual blindness in this world that keeps people from seeing You for Who You really are. Our Big “G” God. The only One True God. “You, LORD, keep our flames burning; You turn our darkness into light.” (Ps. 18:28) Continue to do so for Your Name’s Sake. In Jesus name…Amen