In the days of the westward expansion in North America, when men saw that a prairie fire was coming, what would they do? There was no way for them to outrun it or guess the safe route out. So, the pioneers took a match and burned the grass in the area around them. As the roar of the flames approached, they were not afraid. Even as the ocean of fire surged around them there was no fear. They were standing where the fire had already been.
Jesus said, "I have come to bring fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo..." There is no escaping the judgment and division (fire) that has come since Jesus' sufferings on the cross (his baptism). There is only one safe place to stand and that is where the match of God's judgment has been struck: The foot of the cross.