THE FIRE DON’T ASK

(Batiste strikes bold chords as brass swells.)

The fire don’t ask who you are…

it just comes.

But flames got rules—

they don’t know what to do

with a man who refuses to burn.

⸻

🎶

This year hit me like a match to dry wood,

Tryna see if my soul still stood.

Storms in March, loss in April,

Pain so heavy felt borderline fatal.

Then July came like a torch in the night,

Fear in my chest, still ready to fight.

Held my son’s hand while the doctors checked,

I prayed with a voice that was cracked but direct.

Pressure on pressure but I ain’t collapse,

Took every blow like a man in the scraps.

Devil said fold — I said not yet,

I’m still on the field and I ain’t done sweat.

🎶

⸻

🎶

The fire don’t ask, the fire don’t wait,

It don’t bow down, don’t hesitate.

But flames can’t break what God creates—

I rise again, I elevate.

🎶

⸻

🎶

Lost my wife, nearly lost my mind,

But sorrow ain’t stronger than the God I find.

Every tear I dropped, He caught midair,

Turned pain into purpose, despair into prayer.

They took my job, thought they took my worth,

But I’m built from spirit, not from earth.

A paycheck ain’t the source of my name,

My identity forged in a holier flame.

I seen fire touch steel and temper its core,

Hit harder than ever but hurt me no more.

I’m tested, not taken, stretched, not broken,

Every trial I faced left faith unspoken.

🎶

⸻

🎶

Burn me, shape me, make me new,

Fire can’t stop what I walk through.

God in the heat, God in the light,

God in the shadows that test my might.

🎶

(Wayne murmurs: “Pressure make diamonds… fire make steel.”)

⸻

🎶

The fire don’t ask, the fire don’t care,

But I’m built strong, I’m built for prayer.

Heat me up, I’m still aware—

God in the flame, I meet Him there.

🎶

⸻

I used to fear the flame.

Now I stand in it.

‘Cause the fire that tried to kill me

made me see

I’m more durable than I knew.

🎶

Burn the boy, reveal the man,

Turn fear to ash, reveal God’s plan.

I ain’t perfect but I’m still real,

Ain’t made of wood — I’m tempered steel.

🎶

⸻

🎶

The fire don’t ask, the fire don’t choose,

But flames don’t win when you refuse.

Heat me, try me — I’ll refuse to kneel,

I’m forged, I’m risen…

I’m tempered steel.

🎶

⸻

Fire didn’t break me…

it built me.

And I thank God

for every spark

that shaped who I am.