Do you ever feel like God is far away? I know there have been times that I felt I could simply reach across the kitchen table and take Jesus’s hand; other times, I feel like He is on the other side of the universe. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. We’ve had family come up for a weekend visit. We have traveled to Kentucky, Illinois and back to Indiana. Even though I was on vacation, and I didn’t have to report to work, I still felt like I ran here and there the entire time I was off. I joked with my coworkers that I came back to work to rest! Yet, in the past 10 days, I haven’t picked up my bible or taken time out of the hustle and bustle, to simply sit quietly and talk to God. I know that is why He feels so far away, and I know that is why I struggled to write these past two weeks.

This past Friday, my husband was leaving for a much-deserved trip away. He had been planning this weekend for months. Of course, Friday morning as he was getting ready to leave, we discovered our water heater had gone out. He immediately told me that he would stay home, and I told him—NO! I won’t die without hot water for a day or two. I will be fine. So, he left to enjoy his time away with drag racing, hemi engines and high-octane fuel. I tinkered around with the water heater and twice I had the pilot light lit and the flame burning bright. But as soon as I switched the knob to the correct setting, the flame died out. Then I heard a little whisper from the Lord, reminding me that if I want to keep the flame in my heart burning, I must take time to connect to His power!

Looking back on this turn of events and the chill I have felt in my heart over the past week, I realize how much I need God to keep my heart on fire for Him! If I neglect my time with Him—if I don’t make Him my priority—my heart and my life will begin to chill and before I know it, it will feel like He is on the other side of the universe! Solomon wrote in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” If I am to tap into the power from the Almighty God, I must stay connected to Him. Thankfully, grace abounds, and when I have allowed myself to drift away, all that is required, is that I reach out to Jesus and ask for his forgiveness. My salvation, my eternity, isn’t based on some legalistic check list or book of laws—my eternity rests solely on His sacrifice at the cross and my faith in His work! Peter reminds us in his epistle, 2 Peter 1:3-7. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”

Above all else, I want my life to burn with God’s power! I want His light to shine in the darkness of this world—lighting the way, fueled by His love. Our water heater lost its flame because it wasn’t getting enough oxygen. My heart will not burn without feeding my relationship with God. It’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10