Fire

Today I reflect on what is for me and what is against me. I think about a fire and how fire can be dangerous but it can also be helpful. A fire can give you warmth and keep you alive, but a fire can also destroy your home and tear dreams apart. When I think about fire, I think about refinement. I think about how when a fire is placed on something that is not pure, the heat brings all the impurities to the surface so they can be removed.

Today I noticed some things in myself that I had not realized before. The fire brought them to the surface. And even though it can feel painful or discouraging at first, the fire is for me, not against me. Because sometimes when you feel strong and nothing has challenged you for a long time, you start to feel invincible. Then something happens. You are struck down, maybe in what you believed was the prime of your life. You feel crushed, discouraged, exhausted, and overwhelmed by problems you never thought you would face.

But then you make it through. And you realize that the very thing you thought was meant to destroy you is actually what God uses to grow you, strengthen you, and prepare you for a future you never imagined.

I think of the story in the Bible of the three men in the fiery furnace, Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, and how the fire did not consume them because God was in the fire with them. It takes courage to walk through fire, but it also takes trust to know you are not walking through it alone.

My family is in a fire right now. Barbi is in a fire. Bella is in a fire. I am in a fire. But none of us are alone. We will make it through it together. Every day we get a choice. We get to look at what is in front of us and decide whether we will shrink back or move forward. A wise man once said that not making a choice is still a choice. So we must choose. We can choose to move forward or backward, but we will not stay still. Standing still is not an option.

So as we face each day, our call is simple. Get up. Show up. Move forward. Do the best you can with what you have. The fires in life will continue to come, but they are not sent to destroy us. They are sent to refine us and prepare us for everything ahead.