Fire consumes in a frenzy, yet the pattern is similar each time. First comes the destruction and devastation, the churning intensity of unimaginable heat. Everything is gobbled up, destroyed, seemingly ruined. Wildfires, house fires, the refining process for precious metals, burns and blisters from touching a hot pan.
The intensity of the heat threatens to overtake us. The pain mocks us with no foreseeable end. The sorrow of the loss provokes us without sympathy.
The trees of the forest, the possessions, the memories, the impurities, health and vitality -- they are all gone. We are left stunned, perplexed, pained - to our core at times. We don't know what to do next. All we see in front of us is a pile of ashes.
But our God makes beauty from ashes.
Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Repair ensues.
Growth renews.
Healing comes.
Intimacy flourishes.
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
John 15:5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
All we have, all we are, all we will ever be is because of His mercy and grace. He has to bring us through the fire to purify us, to remove the impurities of the world, the wrong beliefs, all of our personal biases and yes, even our wrong behaviors. He doesn't lead us away. He doesn't tempt us. No true father throws his children to the wolves.
In metallurgy, the fire separates the impurities from the precious elements such as silver or gold. In a forest fire, the flames and heat scorch and darken the the land, burning up all the surface vegetation and clearing a path for sunshine to reach the soil once again. New life springs forth almost immediately. Burned down houses are rebuilt. New memories are made. People begin again. When we touch a hot pan, our skin is damaged and often blistered. Scars appear in time. Immediately though, the healing process begins. The body will once again be whole.
The Refiner's fire in our lives is not the end. It is the beginning. "By His stripes we are healed." We are being rebuilt by the Master Carpenter who builds men and women for eternity. The Sonshine will once again reach the soil of the deepest parts of us if we don't cover it up with layers of mulch and regret and denial. Our scars, though bleeding and painful at first, are healed and in time will be remembered as a spring point for growth and maturity, steps closer to our Father.
The fire is never easy, however the fire is necessary.