What The Fire Reveals

DAY 1 — WHAT THE FIRE REVEALS

“But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand…But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.”

Acts 28:3, 5

Come up higher: Let the fire refine you.

Heat has a way of drawing things out. I once had an insect bite, and the nurse told me to use a hot compress so that the heat could draw the poison out of the bite and cause it to heal faster. When Paul stirred the fire, what was hidden surfaced. The viper didn’t appear until the wood was added and the fire grew hotter. In the same way, as you begin to tend the flame in your life, things may rise to the surface — thoughts, patterns, wounds, or attitudes you didn’t realize were there. Don’t run from it. Don’t be surprised by it. It is the love of God that reveals it. He is not exposing you to shame you, He is revealing things so He can heal, refine, and restore.

Some have carried pain for so long they’ve become tolerant to it. But the poison in the wound is spreading deeper and causing more damage. It’s time to confront the issue once and for all. Forgive, repent, make the correction, and then move forward. Paul shook off what was meant to destroy him, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, you can too!

Prayer: “Father, search my heart. Give me the courage to face what You reveal and the grace to let You transform it.”

Additional reading: Luke 8:17; Psalm 139:23–24

Journal: How can you allow God’s fire to refine you? What hidden things might God be revealing?