For anybody living in the Flint Hills, it is burning season. The purpose of burning pastures is "grass management". The old grass of the pastures is burned away so that new life can grow. It is used to rid the land of unwanted plants and weeds that have grown there so that the grass we want to grow can grow. It rids the land of unwanted growth. The burning of pastures releases nutrients in the soil to promote that growth.
Now, I quite enjoy burning season. The fires at night are beautiful and memorizing. I even enjoy the smell of burning. What gets me is the new growth. I enjoy it every morning on my way to work. Witnessing the progression from old to burned and from burned to new life. It amazes me how green and luscious the new life is. After the recent rains the green almost looks fake it is so green. Just absolutely beautiful. And part of the journey to this beautiful green growth? Burning.
Now, burning has its unpleasantries. It's messy. It's hot. And coming just after the flames it is kind of ugly. The blackness of destruction. Smoldering from the flames. The smell gets old after a while and tends to stick round for a bit after the burning. It's painful sometimes. I can't help but think of wildfires out of control. The destruction that those bring when the fires are unexpected. The lifestyles and living that is affected in those instances. Those happen. Prescribed burns and uncontrolled burns. Recently there was an unexpected burn nearby. It may have been small but it was unexpected. However, when I see that spot along the interstate the aftermath is the same. Beautiful green life growing through the ashes.
Life...... trials....... these can be similar. Maybe a lot more unexpected fires than the prescribed burns. But both happen. And in both cases God can work through those fires. Several times in Scripture we are told trials will come. We shouldn't be surprised by those. We witness it in the lives of followers of Christ in the Bible. We see it in the deaths of martyrs who died for the purpose of others knowing Christ. Trials will come.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefined, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith -- more precious than gold that perished though it is tested by fire -- may be found to result in praise and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." - 1 Peter 1:3-9
You could go a lot of places with this comparing our faith to the process of purifying silver or gold. It takes lot of heat. It takes a lot of time. It takes perfection. And the perfector of our faith... is our Father in heaven. He is the best artist. We are his masterpiece. In his eyes we are perfect because He created us. When He sees us, he doesn't see the flaws that were burned away. He sees the beautiful green grass that is growing through the ashes that resulted in a trial. He sees beauty. He created it.
A lot of people know the recent stretch of my journey. Last October, after lot of prayers with a lot of people, we started the adventure of working off of depression and anxiety medication. In January, we moved me off completely. And it was painful to say the least. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Yet God has remained faithful. His work has remained good. His love for me still remains.
I would refer to this as a prescribed burn. We knew it would be hard. We knew there would be all kinds of withdrawal, mental, emotional, and physical. We expected those things. We also expected the unexpected flare ups. We also knew there would be new growth. We didn't know exactly how it would look..... The trials.... The growing.... but we knew it would be. And we knew God would use it and He continues to use it.
Recently we had a few unexpected flare ups. Panic and anxiety were the spark of the flame. And they burned. They were ugly. They were hot and messy. I was a hot mess. And I thought it would never end even if I knew in reality it would. And each time He saw me through. He provided the faith and people and prayers to keep me standing. And through those wildfires and flare ups He continues to grow me. And as much as I don't want to endure or go through them or share those experiences with anybody, He uses them. My trial could be the key to unlocking somebody else's prick.
God does that through our trials and fires. Through the prescribed burns and the unexpected wildfires. And even though the trial may be unexpected we can expect the trials. Fire doesn't pick and choose patches to burn. When it burns, it burns whatever is in its path.... The top of then hills and the valleys. And the rebirth of life happens wherever there were flames. On the hill tops. In the crevasses carved out in the hills. In the lowest point in the valleys. Growth happens everywhere. The trials are fire. God brings the rains. And we grow.
I wish I would have taken a picture of it, the day these thoughts popped into my head. Driving into work on 177. One side of the road had just been burned. It was charred and black and not all that pretty. The other side had been burned while before. It was beautiful and green. Little ways down the road there had been no burn. It was brown and tall and overgrown. Life.... before.... during.... And after God's work in our lives. Perspective. Beauty from ashes. He makes all things beautiful in His time. The lollies of the fields. The green grass after the pasture has been burned. Budding trees. You. Me. Everything.
The challenge: embracing the burn. This is a hard one. Rejoicing in the pain and the burn. Because it hurts. It isn't enjoyable. And it is really easy to ask why is this happening. Maybe the question we should ask is: what are you showing me in this Father? When we ask, where are you God... We must then open our eyes and LOOK for Him.
Because He is there. Every step of the way. And He is growing us in every trial and burn... prescribed and unexpected. He is our help and our strength... our hope in times of struggle. Because He is who He says He is and we are who He says we are and that is loved and protected and whole in Him. His plans for us are good. And He will see us through everything that comes our way.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." -- Joshua 1:9
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you whill eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:25-33
