Refining fire

I've heard so many stories and news reports about the fires all around East Texas; it's so devastating. I was trying to think of some positive thing to take away from it, or a good lesson to take away.

I began to wonder what kinds of bible verses there were about fire. Turns out there's quite a few! Many are talking about lamps burning, burning of sacrifices, etc, etc. But there were a few that caught my attention.

"For You are my lamp, O LORD; and the LORD illumines my darkness." - 2 Samuel 22:29

Most of the time fire is ok. It heats things for us, was the first thing to give us light, it can keep us warms and can keep certain machines running. Then there are the tragic sides of fires. They can destroy things in minutes and take many lives easily.

But, I want you to think about an oil lamp, for a minute. These aren't used a whole lot anymore to give light, but when electricity goes out people go looking for a candle or lamp. Here in this verse it says that God will illuminate our darkness. I'm sure there's a much deeper meaning to this particular verse, but the one thing it points out that is very true is the fact that Jesus is the light and will shine on us to show our darkness. In a way like Adam and Eve after they sinned finally seeing they were naked. God opens our eyes by shining His light on things in our life.
Same thing said here: "For You save an afflicted people, but haughty eyes You abase. For You light my lamp; the LORD my God illumines my darkness." - Psalm 18:27-28

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." -Psalm 119:104

Now, I get it...these aren't necessarily about "fire" but they came up in my searches relating to fire, and I like them.

Psalm, especially, talks about God's word an awful lot. In almost every verse in Psalm it mentions God's word, the "law", His "precepts", etc. Have you ever walked in the dark? Unless you've got an empty room it can be very painful or difficult. You bump into things, stub your toes, trip over furniture, step on toys or knock something over. Our life can seem very similar to a walk in the dark sometimes. We seem lost and hopeless, like we're stumbling around in the dark. We think "If only I had a light to guide my way." But alas, there is a light! One that will not only be a lamp for our feet to walk by, but a light to lead our path! When you have someone leading you with a light, it's much easier to walk, even if you still can't see everything around you. You at least know what is right in front of your feet, when you need to turn and step over things. God is our light.

"How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?" - Psalm 89:46

I don't know about the rest of you, but there have been many times in my life when I just straight up thought God was hiding Himself from me. There may certainly be times in my life that He will do that, to see if I will still follow Him and trust in His plan...but God will never leave me. That is His promise. But God most definitely has wrath that will be poured out on those who stray from righteousness. Many times in scripture it says His wrath is like a fire. It is strong and can destroy so much with a single word; yet it is always a perfect wrath. It is righteous. Those who disobey God have purposefully left His side and must be punished. The hope of even something as bad as this, though, is that God is a forgiving, merciful God. He will punish to make someone turn around, but once they do His love showers them all over again. If you truly love someone you won't let them continue in the wrong direction. It's that simple.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;" - Isaiah 43:2-3

All the things of fire I can think of mentioned in the bible were things used to point people back to Christ. When He let out His wrath on cities, when He had people burn sacrifices, when there were torches or lamps involved...it was all pointing back to Christ.

Even in this time of devastation with the fires all around us, God can use them to bring people closer to Him or simply to Him for the first time. Let us keep hope that God will send an answer to prayer to let them cease, but at the same time we should be praying that those who don't know the Lord or have strayed from Him will be brought to Him because of these fires. Prayer is a mighty tool, and one I truly believe we don't use often enough. It's our way of communicating with God, but we often only use it when we're in trouble.

Open those lines back up. Talk with your Father. Draw close to Him even when times are going well.