Let the Fire Fall

By: Jim Hodgins

Saturday, August 2, 2025

Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor. Proverbs 29:23

The chorus to a popular worship song says, “Let your fire fall on us.” God uses fire in many ways to accomplish His will. But a main way God uses fire is to burn away impurities. God may use fire to burn away the “I” in our pride. God's fire for believers is beneficial, and it burns down any roadblock that is stopping us from drawing closer to God. Just like a forest fire, spiritual burning stimulates new growth.

In Exodus 3, God used fire to communicate with Moses and demonstrate His holiness. God appeared as a pillar of fire to protect and guide Israel through the wilderness. The prophet Elijah asked God to use fire to show His superiority over Baal on Mt Carmel. God’s fire fell and consumed everything, both the sacrifices Elijah put out and the ones Baal’s followers put out. This displaying God’s power over false gods and the efforts of men.

In Acts 2:3, “tongues of fire" came down and rested on the Apostles. Peter was empowered by the Holy Spirit's fire when he preached the gospel to an unbelieving crowd and 3,000 of them got saved. In the book of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar. The king made the fiery furnace seven times hotter than normal. The king’s men instantly burned up, but Daniel's friends were protected by a 4th "man" in the fire... Jesus!

That furnace story in Daniel is a picture of God’s immense love. Like Daniel, God will protect us and lavish His love on us if we'll stay faithful to Him. But He may also use Holy fire to burn away unnecessary things in our lives (John 15:6-7). But be encouraged, God's fire brings new growth, usually in the area of our faith. God doesn't use fire to punish Christ followers, He uses it to transform us and to help us stay in His will. So, the next time a fiery trial comes your way, hang in there, something good will come out of it!

Christ follower, don't try to "put out" God's beneficial fire... let it burn anything that is unnecessary and bring you new growth. We can all take it a step further by asking God to burn away our pride so we can abide!

Read: Daniel 3:16-25, 1 Peter 1:7