Day 256: Singing in the Fire

In my daily devotional book, Streams in the Desert, the devo today was about praise. But, not the usual praise. This was a story about a man who had suffered for many years, and he was in his last days. He was laying there asking God why He would left His servant suffer like this. And as he was waiting for an answer, he heard sweet, soft sound, like a musical note. He looked around and realized it was coming from his fireplace. He realized that there was music buried deep within the oak. When all was well with the log, when he was a beautiful tree, he heard birds singing songs on his branches, all was well. But, since he had been chopped down, he had lost all happiness, and his heart became cold. The long-forgotten melodies were sealed deep inside him. But, once the flames from the fire consumed his callousness, the melodies became to seep back out. "The intense heat of the fire wrenched from him both a song and a sacrifice at once". Some of us are like that. Our hearts have become hardened, we no longer sing the sweet melodies to our Father. Let the fires burning around you release the notes inside your soul. This old man learned from the parable God presented to him, and his soul found sweet comfort. Sometimes the only way God can get us to praise Him is to send fire around us.