By 
If I knew where I heard the phrase, I would give credit to whoever invented it because I love it. A Holy Rub! Wow, I need it. Do you?
Thanks to the person who penned those three words. Who knows, it could have been me. My life is swirling by so fast that I am having trouble breathing! Recently my physician said to me, “Sheryl, breathe; breathe deeply!” I want to apply that practice to my physical and spiritual life in 2018.
During the snow days and the ice too, my mind drifted to the times when Daddy built a fire in the big fireplace. First, you must know that my Dad was meticulously neat. He cut and stacked the firewood with the hands of an artist. He carried the pieces of evenly sawed wood into the house with his gloved hands. He laid them gingerly on the rack in the fireplace leaving a space between the logs. He called this “airspace” as it allowed the flames to leap around the wood, sending out light, heat, and an aroma for not just the family room but into the kitchen and beyond.
Here is the clincher. Daddy did not start the fire with the turning of a knob on the side of the fireplace hearth. He did not throw igniting pieces into the fireplace to catch the flame of a match. No, Daddy would rub two pieces of pine kindling together until there was a spark. And then he gently blew his breath on the tiny flash. Oh, the smell of that first fire in the fireplace on icy cold mornings or evenings. Mother knew how to keep the fire burning; Daddy knew how to build it.
So during the past few weeks of winter weather that made the news, I reminisced about the fires my daddy built. And I pondered what it feels like to experience a Holy Rub, what it feels like to have a “God-breathed” moment in your life, what it feels like to experience ruah (breath) of the Spirit of God—the inspiration of the Holy Spirit igniting a flame of evangelism in your heart.
A Holy Rub simulates the kindling of a fire. The word kindle is a verb meaning, “to begin burning, to excite, to stir up or to set going, to rouse, to inflame, to illuminate, to become glowing and bright."
Two pieces of not-so-perfect strips of pine, rubbed together, exuded an unforgettable aroma, and sparks appeared. I am trying to give you a visual of two people, you and me, rubbing against the standards of righteousness (so to speak) in a cold, dark world.
The room changed when Daddy placed the two sticks of imperfect pine strips that were aflame between the logs that were stacked, waiting for something to happen. When the fire lit the room, it sent out a welcoming heat, sound, and aroma.
The God-gifts of our life rub up against the weaknesses in ourselves; our natural abilities and failures rub up against the grace and the empowerment of God. Does that mean we sit waiting for something to happen? I think of us as the wood placed on the street, in the office or school or home. Wherever we are, we are in the place God set us.
Perhaps you know, or maybe you never thought about why you are where you are. I ask this question many times a week. Deep down in my heart I believe God sets up and puts down and makes room for all of us. When we are in place, and the Master comes with His perfect plan and breathes the breath of the Holy Spirit upon us, something is about to happen—an excitement, an illumination, a glowing and brightness. We can then illuminate our world.
At the strategic moment when the Holy Rub sparks a flame, the fire cannot be far behind. That's when the flame becomes a light and a comfort, and we diffuse a lingering fragrance. Our insufficiency rubs up against our divine calling and sparks begin to fly.
Let there be a Holy Rub! Let the breath of the Holy Spirit consume us! The fire of the Holy Spirit is burning as we move with God's plan. As we experience the Holy Rub striking against our human nature, and ruah, the breath of the Holy Spirit breathing on us, we can say, I CAN BURN with the fire of the Holy Spirit to give light and warmth and exude a fragrance in this cold world.
Pray this prayer daily: Holy Spirit breathe on me.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
—1 Corinthians 12:7
Sheryl Coffey
Sheryl Coffey is President/CEO of a nonprofit organization known as RAC-G. Sheryl’s education is in Christian Education, She has published her story in a book ‘A Lingering Fragrance”. She has founded ‘The Fragrant Hours Ministry” after the death of her only child. Sheryl displays her perfume bottle collection to illustrate the message from II Corinthians 2:14-16. She is married to Lee Coffey. Has lived in Tyler almost 20 years. Member of GABC. Bible Teacher at Christian Women’s Job Corp. 
