Two years ago my parents moved far far away. Literally. It’s not been easy living so far from them.
This summer we took the long drive to spend some much-missed time in their company. With delays it took us 10 hours with a short stop in the middle for lunch.
My dad was your typical pensive father. He said he didn’t get much sleep. He worried about my safety with the all too recent highway closure. With summer heat and dry trees come many wildfires. However, the highway was open all the way and forests fires in the nearby vicinity had been quenched.
Nevertheless, driving past where the fire had run its course was very unsettling and ominous. Blackened, singed trees lined both sides of the highway. My mom said that one of our nieces cried when she saw the aftermath of burnt trees.
Fires in this neck of the woods are continuing to burn. These are the latest stats:
This seems so many fires to contend with! Hence the drive home proved to be a rather scenic trek back, but not in a good way. The smoke filled air once again felt stifling and unsettling. It’s an eerie feeling driving through the mountains as fires burn wild. We were forced to take an alternate route. As we drew closer to our midway pit-stop, where we’d switch over to Highway #5, the sky was filled with a brown mass of smoke cover.
Our alternate route brought with it more visual affects. The typically conspicuous mountains vanished behind a veil of white smoke.
Next we sighted a wild fire of another sort. Up ahead, fire and black smoke billowed from a motor home on the side of the highway.
As we drove past, I was surprised I could feel the heat from it through our vehicle.
Eventually hazy skies turned back to blue as we approached home.
And mountains reappeard in their great splendor….
….surrounded by lush evergreens.
Sometimes life feels like an endless series of fires that burn wild. Just when one is extinguished it seems another 22 start up again. Ever felt this way? You’re not alone. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus said it himself, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” He also said, “I have told you these things so that in me you would have peace” (John 16:33)
What this means for those of us who believe in the great “I AM” is that God has gone and goes before us. In fact, Holy Scripture reveals that God was in the fire as he led the Israelites through the desert.
By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
Exodus 13:21 (NIV)
When life feels as if it’s burning out of control, let us remember that He still goes with us, He still provides light to guide our travels by day and by night. He’s still in the fire.
If you’ve been feeling the heat of those embers too and you’ve been feeling burnt right out, know that there’s a time for everything, including allowing God to minister to your heart. When you believe that YOU’RE the one who has to hold it all together, know that You aren’t and you don’t. That’s always been God’s job.
And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]
Colossians 1:17 (Amplified Bible)
Rest in His loving, healing arms. They are balm for every weary soul. God still speaks, and even sings over us with gladness. This morning He spoke through the words of this song and it brought me both tears and comfort. I hope it speaks to you as well.
There are still blue skies to be revealed up ahead. Praise God and be blessed. ❤️❤️
Thank you for reading. –Tina
Pippi's Poetry 