Flames of Grace

Photo by Stephanie Hanno Photography

An Essay by Matthew Nash

I will never forget my first campfire experience in sixth grade on a youth church trip. I helped build the fire that we would roast plump marshmallows on that night and brush away the embers that would leap onto our clothing as we sang Rich Mullins’ song, “Our God is an Awesome God” (and yes, I am dating myself with that reference). The key to building a great campfire is the wood you choose and how you form it in the pit. If the wood is wet, then it won’t burn, and if it is too dry, it will burn too quickly and go out. The wood is best if it is healthy before going into the fire. You also must stack it in a way that air can get between the wood to keep the fire building. How the wood is formed is important for the fire to last a long time. 

We are a lot like this as well. We must be spiritually healthy, and how we are formed as followers of Jesus matters. These things do not happen by accident, and they do not happen overnight. It takes disciplines that we can learn and practice in regular rhythms that make our hearts, minds, and souls spiritually healthy. C.S. Lewis called disciplines like this “good medicine” that can work its way through our hands and feet as much as our brains and hearts. 

Listen to the Apostle Paul’s wisdom to his disciple Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NIV): “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

As we discipline ourselves, we should spend more time building each other up through mutual love and support rather than tearing one another down. These verses from 2 Timothy can often be weaponized to make it seem like God wants us to take control and dominate through power structures that show no compassion, mercy, or empathy. It is not the way of Jesus though. Jesus is gentle and lowly with us and invites us to take the posture of a servant for others in this world. We can fan the flames of grace in other people’s lives as well as our own. We have received grace even before we take our first breath and continue to receive grace for all of eternity. Before we even took a breath, we were swimming in grace. 

How does that make you feel and think about God differently than you have before?

Later in this chapter, Paul mentions another person, Onesiphorus, who did something meaningful. He refreshed Paul. 

Who are you being refreshed by, and who are you refreshing?

There is a life principle that a mentor taught me over 20 years ago, and I repeat it out loud to myself when I start to get discouraged and feel like my flame is getting weaker because of difficult circumstances, world tragedies, or even anxieties that live in my mind and body. 

We are Easter People living in a Good Friday world. 

I realize it is the season of autumn and all things pumpkin spice are taking over, but think about what it means to be Easter people. It means that we have a grounded hope that sustains us through the dark night of the soul, like the disciples felt on good Friday. It means Jesus is with us in the boat during the worst storms of our lives when we scream, “Don’t you care if …” and he simply looks us in the eye and says “Peace, be still.”

A couple years ago, I was on a retreat with Sarah Bessey, and she was helping a group of 75 pastors, priests, and spiritual guides feel the grace of God for themselves since they are always offering it to and for others, but rarely does anyone offer it to them. She looked at us all in the room as our tear-streaked faces looked up after communion and she said: 

I want to be outside with the misfits, with the rebels, the dreamers, second-chance givers, the radical grace lavishers, the ones with arms wide open, the courageously vulnerable, and among even—or maybe especially—the ones rejected by the Table as not worthy enough or right enough. Let us remember how the most fearless thing we can do is keep showing up with love and grace and joy in our real, right-now lives.1

There is a verse from the gospel of Matthew that has been incredibly meaningful for me to fan the flames of grace in my life. Jesus says, “Walk with me and work with me–watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace” (Matt. 11:29, MSG). These words ground me and provide heat for me to fan the flames of grace. 

As it was with the fire when I was young, spiritual practices have been the rhythms and pieces of wood that bring the warmth of the heat. One practice is centering prayer. I find a place that is calm and silent and spend ten minutes focusing on one word or phrase that I feel God has been speaking to me lately. When I am done listening to the Spirit, I do some free writing in my journal about how I felt and what I heard God say. Another spiritual practice that has helped me fan the flame is called Lectio Divina, which means ‘divine reading.’ I take a short passage of scripture and read it three times aloud slowly. Each time I read, I ask God to help me focus on one thing, and then I spend some time praying with that. 

The flame comes from the Holy Spirit that burns in my heart and soul, but practices and disciplines can be something to hold onto, like the wood that helps prepare my heart. My hope and prayer is that today you feel like you are sitting at a campfire feeling the flames of grace dance all around you as you continue to follow Jesus and offer that grace to others in your neighborhood. 

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Author's Note: If you would like a collection of spiritual practices that would help you live into the unforced rhythms of grace or if you would like to receive a free one-hour spiritual direction session - please email me and I would be honored to send you them for free and/or meet with you over Zoom. My email:  matt@kardiacommunity.org. 

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1.Bessey, Sarah. “Welcome the Wilderness.” Presentation at —- Pastors, Priests & Guides Retreat, Chicago, IL, May 3, 2024.

Dr. Matt Nash is a writer, spiritual director, and leads Kardia Community, helping people around the world care for their soul. He was a contributor on Good Words for the Young: A Children’s Devotional, a collection inspired by the writings of George MacDonald. He is currently at work on his first book, The Joy of Disruption, scheduled for publication in 2027.

You can connect with him on Instagram @matthewnash1 or follow his reflections on soul care, grief, mental health, and spiritual formation on his Substack: aslanonthemove.substack.com.