Who doesn't love sitting around an open fire? Even more so when the view beyond stretches to the ocean with nothing but open space, bush and hills surrounding you.
Sitting in front of a firepit with a tasty drink and good company creates one of those moments that you just want to soak in and savour... all the deliciousness of simply being present.
But fire is also hot, it's painful, it burns and so often we want to run from it. And let's be real, there are times when it makes absolute sense to run from it for self-preservation sake!
What about the times when you're thrown into a fire and you've got no choice in the matter? The times when fire comes and you can't run from it even if you tried?
When those kind of fires come, the unwanted ones, the unfair ones, the too hot to handle ones, you've got to know that if God hasn't prevented the fire, then he's going to use that fire to do something glorious.
Once upon a time Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into a fire. Their faith held them in that fire and the presence of God showed up (literally) in that fire. What had bound them was consumed in that fire and they walked around free and unharmed. They walked out of that fire with not a hair singed and NO SMELL OF SMOKE on them.
The very fire that was sent to take them out was the fire that set them free. And not only that, but a whole lot of people looking on witnessed the miracle, saw the presence of God in the fire with them, saw them walking around unbound and watched them walk out unharmed. A whole nation turned to God.
No fire feels fun at the time (except of course the firepit ones you get to sit NEXT to). The ones you find yourself thrown into the midst of are terrifying, scary and overwhelming.
And yet, if God has allowed the fire, trust Him in it. If he hasn't prevented it, he has a purpose in it. You can trust Him to be present with you in it and you can trust Him to bring you out of it more free than when you went in, with NO SMELL OF SMOKE.
For life sake... I am walking out of this fire more free than when I went in.
For life sake... there's going to be no smell of smoke on me.
For life sake... I choose to trust Him in the fire.
