Won't you come in?

On my way.
Making my own way to the furnace.
A furnace designed for me,
For such a time as this.
It is HE who says, "Go. Go in to the furnace."
It is HE who says, "Come. Come in to Me within the furnace."
Alpha and Omega.
At the beginning, and also at the end.
So...
I make my own way to the furnace.
He gives me the choice.

My friends line the sides of the road.
They stand silently, mostly.
Some smile and reach out.
Some try to point me in the opposite direction,
with love in their hearts.

Some friends step out in to the path,
as if to guide me back, away from the furnace,
to the place I have just come from.
I thank them,
knowing their heart is bent toward my good,
but I know The One who calls and sends,
So I must force them to one side.

With each step I feel the heat,
Even while it is yet some great distance away.

Obstacles would seek to bar my path to the furnace.
I must fix my will upon the Perfect Impossible
And keep going.

I see up ahead, the door of the furnace.
An unfathomable, terrifying blaze.
My skin grows hot and dry.
Beads of sweat grow and run down my neck and forehead,
into my neck and eyes, stinging me,
Blurring the path.

At the end of the path and off to one side of the flaming maw,
I see a friend who has cleared a path of escape for me,
into the cool forrest.
She has created a "safe haven" for me,
even at the threshold of the furnace.
She does not believe,
yet.

All these things I saw,
though my journey is only half completed.

I am making my own way.
I can do it because
I know The One Who sends,
And I know The One who calls.
Alpha and Omega.
At the beginning, and also at the end.
So...
I make my own way to the furnace.
He gives me the choice.