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Pastoral Nuggets
The Mother Flame

In 1996, Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics. As is customary, a torch lighted from the Olympic Flame in Athens, Greece was sent to Atlanta to light the flame that signified the opening of the games. When the flame arrived in the United States, 10,000 torchbearers carried it over a 15,000-mile route that took it through 43 states and countless towns and communities. As the flame was passing through Tacoma, Washington, the unthinkable happened. An amateur cyclist named Harley Sheffield was carrying the flame across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge when an expansion joint in the bridge pinched the rear tire of his bicycle, causing him to lose control. The ensuing wreck damaged the torch and extinguished the flame. Imagine the horror that gripped Harley. He would always be remembered as the guy who ruined the 1996 Olympics. However, thankfully, the story does not end there. You see, realizing that the Olympic Flame Torch would be handled by 10,000 different people, the organizers made contingency plans for just such an occurrence. What most people did not know was that the organizers did not sent just one torch and one flame. They sent many torches and a “mother flame” to accompany the torch on its journey. The “mother flame” was never far from the burning torch. When Harley went down and the flame went out, organizers simply went to the vehicle that housed the “mother flame,” picked-up a new torch touched it to the flame, and the journey continued.

In 1973, I made my way to the altar of Bethel Chapel Baptist Church in LaGrange, Georgia and gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. At that moment, I was touched by the Fresh Fire of God’s Holy Spirit, and my life was forever changed. I became a torchbearer for Jesus. His Light illuminated my life. Now, I wish I could tell you that from that moment forward I have always done right, never made any mistakes, missteps, or miscues in my Spiritual journey, or there has never been times that I have just flat blown it. Sadly, I cannot. If the truth were known, the spiritual train wrecks that I have been involved with make Harley Sheffield’s misadventure seem like a walk in the park. Many times my actions have destroyed the Spiritual torch and extinguished the flame of my personal testimony. No, I am not speaking of my salvation. That is secure. I am speaking of the times that through my actions I have grieved the Spirit of God that dwells within me. I am speaking of the times that by my actions I hurt His kingdom work, hurt those whom I love dearly, and tarnished friendships. However, the wonder of it all is that the Great Organizer of Life made contingency plans for every failure in my life. I have discovered that the “Mother Flame” of the Holy Spirit is never far from me. When I wreck and destroy the torch and extinguish the flame of my testimony, He simply walks me back to the “Mother Flame,” hands me a new torch, touches it to the Flame, and my journey continues. Does this make the wrecks any less painful? No. Does it lessen the damage? No. Does it lessen the embarrassment? No. Does it mean I will not experience any more wrecks? No. It simply means that He is always with me. He loves me. And according to the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1:6 I have a promise from God that He will see me through any Spiritual train wreck I may encounter along the way: Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps somebody reading this Nugget today is in the throes of a Spiritual train wreck. I do not know the circumstances surrounding your wreck. Perhaps your marriage is on the rocks. Perhaps your child has made some bad life choices. Perhaps you are that child! Perhaps your career is in a tailspin. Perhaps you are facing medical problems. Perhaps you are dealing with grief. Perhaps you are dealing with guilt. Perhaps you have financial problems. Perhaps ten thousand other scenarios are playing out in your life at this very moment, and none of them is good. Again, I do not know the circumstances surrounding your train wreck. Maybe at this point you do not even understand the circumstances. All you know is, like Harley Sheffield, one moment you were riding happily along down life’s highway, and the next moment you found yourself sprawled on the ground bruised, battered and bleeding, your torch destroyed, and the Flame of God’s Holy Spirit extinguished. To borrow a phrase from a television commercial, “life comes at you fast” and sure enough, it came at you fast! You did not see it coming. You did not have time to digest and absorb all the ramifications of the fall before something else happened. It ain’t looking good for the home team! You find yourself wondering what will come of this.

When studying the Bible, often it is just as important to hear what it does not say as it is to hear what it does say. The story of Peter walking on the water is a good case-in-point. You know the story. The disciples are being obedient to Jesus and crossing to the other side of the lake. These are experienced fishermen. They had fished in this lake through all kinds of weather. Weather-wise, not much excites them. However, this night was different. They had encountered the perfect storm. They are scared. It would be the equivalent of one of us, while on a cruise, seeing the captain and first mate heading for the lifeboats during a storm. Hey, it is time to get nervous! Now, as if their situation wasn’t bad enough, in the very teeth of the storm the disciples see what they believe to be a ghost. Put yourself it their position. They are dealing with a storm that has them scared to death and now on top of that they see a ghost. It’s a bad night! Then they recognize this wasn’t a ghost rather, it was Jesus. Peter then cries to the Lord for Him to bid him to come to Him on the water if it was really Him. Jesus obliged and Peter walked on the water. However, what I want you to see is that Peter did not ask the Lord, nor did Jesus offer to change his circumstances before He granted him a miracle. Peter did not ask the Lord to calm the storm and make the sea as smooth as glass before He told him to come. The Lord told Peter to come despite his circumstances. In essence, the Lord told Peter that his circumstances were not going to get any better. However, He was there in the midst of his circumstances. The truth of the matter is this: joy in the Christian life is not the absence of problems rather; joy is the presence of Jesus in our problems.

I imagine as Harley Sheffield lay on the concrete of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge he wished his circumstances would change. I am sure that he probably thought: this cannot be happening to me! But it took a tragedy to reveal what he did not know. It took a mangled bicycle, a bruised and bloody body, a destroy torch, an extinguished flame, and a whole lot of embarrassment and humility to reveal that the “mother flame” and new torches were never far from him. In the midst of the dark night of his soul, Harley Sheffield discovered the existence and presence of the “mother flame.” He received a new torch. His flame was reignited. He was given another chance to complete the journey he had been selected to travel. So it is with our Lord. When our life experiences send us crashing suddenly and violently, when we like Peter find ourselves sinking, when life is at its worst, somehow it is then we discover the very close proximity of the “Mother Flame.” It is then we discover a lot of things about ourselves. Often, it is in the dark night of the soul when the Holy Flame of God is rekindled within us. He hands us a new torch. And somehow, we find the energy to get back into the race and complete the portion of the journey that has been assigned to us. We call it life. He is never far. However, sometimes it takes adversity to cause us to discover this. Today, regardless of your circumstances, pick yourself up, take hold of a new torch, touch the “Mother Flame” anew, get back into the game and finish your leg of the race.

The Pastoral Nuggets are a regular feature in the Troup Baptist Association’s Newsletter, The Messenger. If you would like to receive a free copy of The Messenger each month via the regular (snail) mail, (It contains items not in the e-mail version) please send an e-mail containing your name and mailing address to: Dottie Henson at: troupbaptist@charter.net.
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