Faith in the Fire

There have been posts all over Facebook over the past few days about the wildfire raging in Colorado. My family and I have gone on vacation to Colorado Springs and various other spots in that beautiful state many times in my life, and my heart is heavy with hearing absolutely no good news about the fire. (The last time I checked, it was only 5% contained.) If I am heavyhearted for a place that's not even my own home, how much more devastating is it for the people who actually DO call it home? I cannot even imagine the emotional turmoil raging inside of their own minds and hearts just like that fire. 

As believers, we are called to not worry or be scared, but in a terrifying situation like this, how can we NOT be worried? 

It's hard to imagine God being in control, but He is, believe it or not. If He controlled the flood waters that completely covered the earth while Noah was in the ark, I believe He is in absolute control over this fire. He has the ability to smite the fire if He wanted to. 

But that's just it: why doesn't He? If entire forests and maybe even homes are burning, and people are being evacuated with the possibility of them never seeing their homes still standing again, why doesn't He control the fire? "Doesn't He care?" Sometimes, we feel that He is so far away that He either 1. doesn't care about what's going on, or 2. does care but can't do anything about it. So, to repeat my question: why doesn't He control the fire? Why this destruction?

Sometimes, things happen that we can't explain. Well, we can explain the causes of nature, like how a tornado is made or when a hurricane is going to hit, but sometimes we don't know WHY there is damage caused by those things in nature. 

I wish I had an answer for why this fire is raging. I don't. However, even if He doesn't prevent more damage, I do know that God is good, and He can turn even the worst circumstances into something good. There is not one thing that doesn't go unnoticed or unplanned. He is never caught off guard, never taken by surprise. Sometimes, God uses bad things to teach us a lesson that we're supposed to learn, to make us return to Him after we've gone astray, or to give us something even better than what we originally had. 

Psalm 121 is a famous psalm; the first two verses say, "I lift my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (I encourage you to read the whole psalm. It is such a beautiful and encouraging reminder that God is faithful!) 

Jesus and His disciples were out on the sea, when a storm arose. The waves were crashing against their boat, and it was scary; they were probably wondering if they would survive. They woke Jesus up, who was sleeping in the boat, and they accused Him of not caring about them because He was asleep and had not woken up and done anything about the storm. "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Jesus then rebuked the winds and the waves, calming the storm. He then turned to His disciples and asked them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" After all the miracles they had witnessed, and even though they knew He was the Christ, they still doubted His authority as God's son and His authority over all of nature. (This story is found in Mark 4:35-41.) In reading this, I have to ask myself, "Even though I've seen His goodness and His authority in the events of my own life, do I really have faith that God has authority over His creation and that He is able to calm this storm?" 

I have no idea how far this fire will burn and rage on before it is contained. I don't know how much damage it will ultimately make. But I believe that God is good, no matter what happens. The only thing we can do now is to pray. I hope if you are reading this, that you are encouraged. I pray that your faith would grow, and that you would be strengthened in the fact that God is in absolute control over EVERYTHING.