But God also comes as fire. This kind of God's presence we seldom seek. It comes to burn. Burns away chaff. Purifies wrong motives.
Sets cool hearts on fire.
It devours habits of our old life. Fire incinerates private 'sin compartments' we have held back from God. We've gotten good at this in the last few decades since we decided our parents had a fire-breather as God. So we ignored this side of God, and invented a kinder, gentler God, one more like Mister Rogers. A God who encourages, affirms, supports, and admires us, but never purifies, cleanses, destroys, or crucifies.