This past weekend, I got to put the saying, “courage under
fire” to a very literal test. Saturday’s
Crestwood Fire was mere streets away from my house. I never thought I would ever spend an evening
eating dinner and watching flames out the kitchen window. I never thought I’d ever be so close to a
wildfire that I could actually witness an air tanker dropping water or a crop
duster plane dropping retardant. To be
quite honest, it’s an experience I hope I never have to repeat.
Smoke from the Crestwood Fire:
The resulting burn scar:
It was one of those moments when you realize, it can
actually happen to you. Those events in
life, like natural disasters or personal tragedies, that always seem to affect other
people can and will affect you too.
I also think it’s interesting to look at people’s responses to these
kinds of events. My parents took the
view of wait and see what happens. My
neighbor across the street went closer to the fire to check it out. I was of the opinion that, since fires can be
unpredictable, we should be ready to evacuate.
I was running contingency plans through my brain at a pretty decent
clip.
At first glance, my response might not seem very trusting,
either in the first responders or in the power of God’s protection. BUT, there is a saying, “God helps those who
help themselves.” Yes, it is important
to trust in God, but if you don’t take action on your own and use the gifts He
has given you to respond to these kinds of events, are you really trusting
fully in God and recognizing how He is working in your life?
Thanks be to God, the firefighters were able to get control
of the fire before it got out of hand.
No homes were affected, and no one was hurt. It could have been so much worse. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t unsettling still. It was definitely a reality check, a wake up
call.
“It” can happen to you.
Inevitably, it will. What will
your response be?
No comments:
Post a Comment