I just finished watching “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” a story that highlights the transformation of a man and the unsettling power of the human imagination. IMDb summarizes the movie like this. A day-dreamer escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker are threatened, he takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

As the ending credit began to scroll by and the music played in the background, I began to daydream about my journey up to the mountain where God revealed the heartstone. Here is a snippet from that adventure.

The Spirit of God moves with a mystery we cannot understand. He influences whatever He wants, where, when, on whom, and in what measure and degree, He pleases. His soft winds led me to the base of Mt. Lafayette, my own Mount Horeb, to once again make the ascent to the mountaintop to encounter the living God. His soft winds guided my steps again to the large rock hidden on the mountain. His soft winds led me to the heartstone that God had placed within the walls of the hotel ruin. Four years ago, He led me to discover four stones. Today, He has led me to find one:—His heartstone.

The imagery was awesome and the life narrative still echoes today, “Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it!”

Coming off the mountaintop from my daydream I remembered all the adventures I have been on and something in me ached for more. Life seems to role in like a thick fog bank at times and somehow we get pulled back out of the imagination into the mundane. Then something in us begins to fade.

Are you tracking with me? Lets see.

Remember the Israelites? Remember the awesome displays of God’s power and glory during the exodus out of Egypt? Awesome adventures, but over time the doldrums of life pulled them out of the excitement and their flame began to fade.

This really hit me because I could feel the fire I had for God during those adventures was beginning to fade. Begin honest with myself and sticking with the metaphor, my zeal has been reduced to embers.

As I sat in my living room, drifting in and out of the daydreams of my past adventures with God, He begins to calm my spirit and placed an image on my heart. Really, God is just awesome!

Here is that image…

I find myself sitting around the fire pit in my yard watching the fire go out. God points out that even though the fire is dying there are still embers underneath the remaining wood and ash. He shares that the fading embers could easily ignite a fire again if they were stoked, poked or if the breath of the wind blew on them.

I found myself in the same place as the Israelites, having lost my zeal for the things of God and I needed my fire rekindled. If you were honest with yourselves, many of you are in the place too.

Here is my prayer for me and for you…

Father God, breath upon the embers and rekindle the fire that has died out in our hearts. Renew the passion that once burned in our hearts and help us to not let the cares of this world pull us down into a place of complacency. Remove any debris and anything that is causing the embers to smolder. Help us remove discouragement, depression, weariness and not to be moved by adverse situations. Help us to refocus and renew the passion that we once had in You, may these embers become a raging inferno for Your glory. Enable us to finish strong. Amen!

The irony, for those who saw “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” I imagined myself on that last cover of Life Magazine with the title…”Dedicated to the people who made it!” And yes, with God, I will finish strong and I will make it…and so will you!

Are you ready to finish strong?