Our hearts need some thawing every now and then.
Two of the poustinia cabins frequently used by the men at Madonna House sit on a slope at Marian Meadows, a nearby farm property. They are log cabins that get cold in the winter time when the wood stoves aren’t lit.
One harshly cold winter evening, as Dustin (a fellow guest) and I went up to the Meadows to occupy these two poustinias for 24 hours, Dustin began reflecting on his experiences of lighting the wood stove and waiting for the cabin to heat up.
Sitting there in front of the newly-lit stove, he would crack open the Bible and begin to read. Dustin said that what was happening with the icy-cold cabin and his icy-cold heart was one and the same thing. Both his heart and the cabin were cold. The newly-lit fire and the Scriptures were, respectively, slowly beginning to warm and thaw the cabin and his heart.
Our hearts need some thawing every now and then. That’s why I go to poustinia and fire up the wood stove. That’s why I sit and wait as the fire rises to a roar and, as I crack open the Scriptures, the Word begins to kindle a fire in my heart.
Try poustinia. The matches are waiting.
