Firefighters know that a room in a building can heat up to the point of ignition with no visible evidence. Not even smoke. And if oxygen is introduced by opening a door or breaking a window, flames can envelop the entire area almost instantaneously.
The backdraft phenomenon can happen to people. I know because it happened to me.
Thirty years. It took thirty years for my insides to reach the point of ignition. And when a fresh perspective was introduced by attending a conference, newfound strength engulfed my life.
It’s still hard for me to realize that for more than three decades, except for a couple of brief interludes, I was disconnected, living in my head. I sorted out my perceptions on my own and fitted into the background of what was expected. I was a wallflower woman.
On that mind-grabbing weekend I began to consider what it might mean to emerge. That perhaps God was calling me to peel myself away from the safety of the wallpaper. Hah, the only way that would happen was if I were consumed by the power of His grace.
And I was.
The makeover was only the leading edge of the internal transformation. As Leslie Vernick says, “Living yourself into a new way of thinking is FASTER than thinking yourself into a new way of living.” The last six months have proven that statement.
The best way to explain my process is I went to God with three petitions.
I knew I needed to learn more of God and how He cares for me, my world and how to interact with it.
I wasn’t foolish enough to think I could take a bunch of information and apply it in any sort of healthy way. I knew I needed Him to guide me in how to incorporate His Truth into my life.
Ultimately I knew it would be impossible for me to succeed unless He outright carried me.
And so I did my best to pursue God’s will by yielding my own. Once I made inroads in that direction, the purifying fire began to devour the wallpaper paste that held me in bondage. The emerging process is still unfolding, but the freedom is already evident.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 NIV1984
Where are you in the backdraft process—building heat, ready to ignite, emerging?
Let’s start sharing our stories.
with joy and peace,
Sandra
Backdrafts happen to people. Click To Tweet
It's time for Wallflower Women to emerge. Click To Tweet