Through the Fire

A lot of believers like to say that they will walk through the fires of life, but as long as God is on their side, they will not be burnt. If you have ever actually lived, you know this is not really true. I have been pretty burnt up in my life. I’m not talking singed, but down right set on fire and burnt to a crisp. (I’m not trying to be insensitive to real burn victims; I’m just using this as a metaphor.)
This is where another one of my favorite verses comes into play. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Yep, we will be “stuck down,” or set on fire, if you will. But we choose whether or not we let life keep us down. I know, easier said than done. I have been through a series of losses and hardships lately, and I have not found it so simple to allow myself to not be destroyed. I struggle almost every day with faith issues. Does God love me or really care about me? Many days my answer is either “no” or “I don’t know.” But the Truth is that He does.
I still feel the fire’s warmth on my face and worry it will again consume me. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. Yet I will choose as Job did in Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.”
This is a long and open-ended topic. I’ll write more on it at a later date.