by Martha June

“And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16

I have never been in a hot air balloon.

Someday I would like to ride in one.

But that about sums up my hot air balloon interest.

So why a blog post about hot air balloons?

Well, let’s just say the Lord used the balloons as a sort of sermon illustration to my heart. It was a light bulb moment.

And the funny thing is, those balloons are shaped like light bulbs.

While I was driving in the car a few weeks ago, I saw a hot air ballon just floating across the highway.

Its bright colors contrasted against the pale blue sky had me mesmerized.

Living in the middle of the midwest I have probably only seen one or two of those balloons in real life.

Thankfully no one else was in the car because my eyes were glued to that mass of colors until I reached my exit.

A couple of days later, a sweet friend of my sister and I posted pictures of some hot air balloons. And I remembered that moment in the car.

The Lord used that random balloon sighting to open my eyes to something.

Here it is.

How many of us, claiming Christ as our Lord, struggle with putting Jesus first in our lives?

I have spent many many hours letting my emotions and daily distractions dictate my daily life, trading God’s freely given peace, for what I deem “more important” at the time.

This is no way to live.

Often, I feel like I am going through the motions, trading the “spiritual talk” for the actual walk. Talk without the walk is empty, friends.

Yet somedays, that is my default.

Has anyone besides me been there?

Now, I do not want to give you the impression that a relationship with Jesus is just about works. I also do not want you to look at life with Christ in you as a legalistic religion. It is a relationship.

How many relationships really thrive without communicating?

How many relationships work without sacrifice?

How many relationship are “good” if you don’t make a priority out of the other person?

None of them.

With this in mind, I do not want to represent the relationship with Christ I am talking about, to be boiled down to a legalistic checklist.

Not at all.

Now let’s talk about fire for a minute.

How to do you stoke a fire? You feed it. You clear a patch, you remove any hinderances, and you make a conscious effort to feed the flame. For us that may look like surrendering any attitudes, repenting of sins, and digging deeper into the word of God and praying specific prayers.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4

I have never been in a hot air ballon, but I know roughly how they work.

At its very center there is a fire, and the heat from that fire (when stoked by pulling a cord) is what fills the balloon and moves it forward and up.

Pay attention to this part,

The heat from that flame fills the balloon.

Are you still with me?

“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or season that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” Acts 1:6-8

I think y’all know that the hot air balloon I am referring to is no longer just a colorful object, but instead it is you and I.

And that fire in the center?

Well, for those who have claimed Christ as Lord, that fire is the “Helper” Jesus talks about in John chapter 14. He is better known as the Holy Spirit.

Fire used to be used to produce energy.

Just like a train engine burning coal to propel the train forward…so should our relationship with Christ be alive and moving us forward as well.

I am the first to admit that I am not good at time management, and honestly there are days where I “don’t have time” to sit and rest with God. Making time with him as a top priority.

It is those days where I do not feed the flame so to speak. Giving my faith the opportunity to become simply coals. And somehow I wonder why I do not feel like I am growing.

Are you making your relationship with God a priority? Are you praying specific prayers? Are you feeding your soul with the word of God? Are you daily drinking from the living water God promises?

These are questions I need to ask myself daily. Because it is in the daily walk, the conscious, intentional, steps forward that we can finish this “race that God sets before us”.

Let’s pretend for a moment we are in a hot air balloon.

Imagine whatever scenic view you wish, but add a skyline full of buildings.

Climbing into the balloon you feel excited for the ride ahead. You are climbing higher and higher into the sky, enjoying the breeze and the view.

But.

You have also brought work with you on this ride, causing you to shift your focus.

Somewhere along the way you become distracted by what you have brought with you. And you decided to stop paying attention to how much air was in the balloon, so you could focus on your “work”.

You have deemed whatever that “work” is to be more important than the well being of the balloon.

Ever so slowly, the balloon begins to lose air and sink steadily towards that skyline.

Still distracted, you do not realize the balloon sinking, until it is too late.

In an effort to save the balloon and yourself, you reach for the cord stoking the fire in desperation, only to jerk the balloon too hard and cause damage.

My own personal distractions may not be the same as yours. But I know they are evident in my life.

When things are going good, it can be so easy for me to slip into self sufficiently. And when I push personal time with God to the back-burner choosing myself…than it is no wonder I “burn out” on life. I am not taking the rest freely offered to me.

When someone asks me how I am doing, I have often answered, “tired”.

This year I have felt incredibly tired. No matter how much I have rested, or how much I sleep, I cannot seem to catch up.

Exhaustion has taken on a whole new meaning.

And for me, it took a picture of some hot air balloons to remind me where real rest comes from.

The Bible says some of our physical/emotional fatigue has to do with our spiritual well being. In other words, how often we are going to the Lord to cast down our burdens, fears, and troubles, and letting him give our souls rest.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden in light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Here is what I came to realize that day in my car.

I have been deflated, much like a balloon losing air.

Relying on self-sufficiently gets me there.

When I look down at my “things”, and ignore my relationship with God, it is as if my ballon has a “leak”.

Bring on the fire.

Have you even wondered why the Bible refers to the Holy Spirit as “like” fire?

I am no theologian, but what is fire?

It is powerful.

It burns things.

(Thanks, Captain Obvious)

It can be used as a light.

And it is a known purifier.

And in hot air balloons?

It is the motor, it is the heat, that fills it and moves it. And with attentive maintenance it can take you high in the sky.

So this is for the Christian who feels deflated.

For those of us who feel like our balloon has a leak.

Christ is waiting for us everyday. He has made a way for us to come to him with all of our daily baggage, and still find rest and refreshment in him. Our job?

To make meeting with the Lord on a regular basis our priority.

Because that will really bring us true rest and refreshment.

I believe in the power of a good nap, friends. But only Jesus can meet the tired part of our hearts, stoking the flame and reviving our souls.

And to answer my question about fire.

It is a powerful element (obviously) and gives us the gift of s’mores…but it also lifts heavy, sluggish things to new heights. And if we would only pull the cord with our relationship with God, asking the Holy Spirit to give us more of his help and himself, can you imagine the kind of revival that can bring?

Our world can be changed if we but surrender.

It is in surrendering our days, our attitudes, our sins, our angers, our grudges, and ourselves, that we make more room for that fire to heat up our balloon.

So here is to dropping the performance hat, falling on our knees, and pulling the cord of our balloon.

And get this, the “pilot” of the flying contraption (is that what you call them?) pulls the cord every-time the balloon is in need of refreshment. It is not a one time “quick fix”. It is a constant, moment by moment refreshment.

Will we do the same?

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31

Sincerely,

a big fan of hot air balloons

p.s. That sweet friends is Gabby. And she is the one who let me use her beautiful pictures! thanks Gabby!!