tiki torches

While on the women's retreat this past weekend, we shared a time of worship on the beach. I had prayed long and hard about how to present Jesus and to allow the women to worship Him in a fresh new way, while partaking of the elements of worship that we celebrate regularly. Because I am a crafter of environment, I had asked the Lord to make me creative and to show me exactly how everything needed to play out.
We were going to the beach after dinner. It would be dark. I had planned to light tiki torches on the beach to give us light. While I had the torches, the difficulty was finding the drop in oil that would be needed. I found one. So, I had one torch and one lantern-it would have to do. I chose to spread a quilt in an area of the beach up near the dunes. The women were going to bring chairs to sit around the blanket and I had planned to give them space to wander on the beach and pray. Then, we would come back to worship together to worship.
We had left dinner early to go and craft the set up and said we would text when we were ready so the women would know when to come down. I staked the torch and looked for the lighter. We tried and tried to flick the bic, but we couldn't get the lighter to come on. After much laughter about our inadequacy with the lighter, I finally got it to light, only to be unable to get the torch to light. Now, this would be a problem. We only have ONE torch. Realizing we had not pulled the wick out, I reached up and pulled on the wick. Not a smart move on my part. It was hot from trying to light it. And now my fingers were on fire and I couldn't get the lighter to light again because it hurt my fingers.
I was beginning to think that this wasn't going so well and that I might need another plan, when it finally lit. Flame on, lid on, torch in the ground, I made my way to the waters edge to pray and set my heart for what was to come. I had squatted down to pray, closed my eyes and just breathe for a minute. The waves were nipping at my toes and it was pitch dark, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright light making its way towards the water. I turned slightly to look and realized it was my torch. My friend was caring the torch and making her way towards the water, which baffled me because I had already staked it in the ground. Why would she be walking around with it? Was she looking for something?
Then I realized, the reason she was making her way to the water was because the torch was on fire. No...not the canister, the bamboo and all of it was one huge flame. She was quietly and calmly making her way to the shore. I jumped to my feet and went to toss water on the torch. She quickly reminded me this was the only one we had and to just put out the wood that was on fire and leave the canister burning. I was freaking out. We got the fire put out and couldn't help but crack up laughing. Our one torch was burnt on the outside and was no pretty sight to look at. But, we had managed to save it quick enough that it would still burn. We staked it again and went for the second round. Hoping it would not catch on fire again.
While we almost lost our torch, we still got the light we needed. Just a little less tiki to it. The excess had been burned away, but it still held the light so others could see to find their way.
Much like our lives, the Lord often has to burn off the excess. At first that seems dangerous and wrong. We feel exposed and unprotected. However, it is often necessary, so that the flame can burn free and clear. So, Jesus comes in and burns away some of the tiki so that the flame can burn brighter.
The funny thing is that not one of the women realized that the torch had been through the fire, for its flame did exactly what it is supposed to do. It lit the way. And it is true for us. While we might feel exposed and unprotected, no one really even notices that because the flame of Christ is now burning so clear, that is all they can see. So perhaps and burnt up tiki torch is not a bad thing if it means the Light shines brighter as a result. And maybe a life with the excess burnt away isn't so bad either, if it means Jesus is seen more glorious as a result.
ALL FOR YOU