In May of 2014, wildfires raged across central Oklahoma. Twenty houses were destroyed, and people instantly became homeless. They lost everything they owned.
However, some things can survive a fire: some metals, gemstones, even parts of photographs stored deep within insulating layers of other papers might remain. If the fire is put out quickly, not everything has to be lost.
We can search what appears to be rubble, and we will find that which endures. We are filled with excitement to find a single treasure the fire could not take from us.
This is a recurring theme in the Bible. The fire of God rages, and what is left is what is eternal.
In Numbers 31:23, Eleazar the priest tells the men who went out to battle, “Everything that may abide the fire, you shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean.”
Sometimes, in the darkest hours of our lives, we forget that Hebrews 12:29 tells us that God is an all-consuming fire. What we see as devastation and horror God sees as no more than a cleansing sweep of his mighty hand. He does not worry about that which burns away. It is that which is left that he finds worthy.
How does Luke 3:16 state it? God will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Psalm 104:4 says God’s ministers are a flaming fire.
2 Chronicles 7:1 shows the fire of God coming down from heaven to consume Solomon’s offering.
In Amos 1:10 God will send a fire to destroy Tyre.
Jeremiah 23:29 describes God’s Word as fire from his mouth.
Fire is horrific when it destroys our lives. Just ask the good people of Oklahoma. However, when the fire comes from God, we can take heart in one thing. What is eternal will survive.
When life takes everything from us, we can be assured we still have God.
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