"Some through the fire...'"

Yesterday morning as I was having my devotions I heard sirens. When they died down and stopped near my building I admit that I found it hard to concerntrate on Malachi, so I put down my Bible and went out onto my balcony to see what was happening.

The fire truck was parked in front of the condos across the street and firemen in full gear were knocking on the outside doors of the various apartments, trying to rouse people, or get them to open their windows to let in some fresh air and let out the smoke, which began at one point to pour out of one of the lower apartments.

The firefighters must have brought the fire under control quickly, because within about a half hour they were gone.

All this was a very powerful trigger for my memories of nearly two years ago when the building next door to where I was then living caught fire. We were roused from sleep at about 1:00 am with the state of the art fire alarm that had been installed in our building just a few months before. What was my reaction? No, it was not fear. It was just plain annoyance at being distrubed in the middle of a sound sleep. I'd just returned from Cameroon two days before and was quite jet lagged. Sleep was a precious commodity at that point and I wanted to capture as much of it as possible. Imagine the indignity of being roused by a fire alarm at a time like that!

When I could not ignore the alarm any longer, I got up, washed my face and dressed. I grabbed my glasses and my purse and prepared to evacuate, hoping that all of this would soon be over and we could go back to sleep.

Now, for years I had a plan that if ever I had to evacuate, I would take certain treasures with me. If I were in the bedroom, I would take certain paintings off the wall and grab certain other valuables and get out. If I were in the living room, I'd grab other things. This particular night I saw the silk rug I'd bought from a Tibetan rug seller in Nepal, and I picked it up, put it over my shoulder and opened the door to my apartment. Then I thought, "Why am I taking this?" I commited my home and my belongings to the Lord saying, "Lord, I'm not going to take anything. I am commiting all my belongings to you, and I want you to watch over everything. Please preserve what I need, but it's all yours and I'm letting go of it." With that I left.

The fire turned out to be much more serious than anyone had bargained for. The building next door was completely destroyed, and the fire spread to the roof of our building. The firefighters poured an incredible amount of water on the whole thing and when I went back the next day everything was awash. I ended up spending the rest of the night in the Red Cross shelter in a nearby school. I thought about the relative value of my posessions, even thouse whtat had been passed down through generations of my family. Everyone who posessed them before me left them behind. Moreover, it occured to me that one day everything will be destroyed by fire: "The elements shall melt with fervent heat..." and I thanked God for things that abide forever.

I'm afraid that I backed into the Scriptural principle through the hymn that went through my mind, "When through firey trials thy pathway shall lie
My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply,
The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design,
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the floods, they shall not overflow you; when you pass through the fire, it shall not kindle upon thee, neither shalt thou be burned." Isaiah 43:2.