The Heat of the Fire

I had a vacation day last Wednesday and I filled it with a combination of fun and a few responsible adult chores. One of my responsible moments was an oil change, so for a few minutes, I sat in the lobby of the auto shop, Mark Batterson's The Circle Maker, open in my lap, underlining frantically.

My phone buzzed with a text, so I opened it...and it was from my friend Bob, who just happens to be a firefighter. I'd texted him several hours earlier and this was (part of) his response:

I just got back from a four hour fire. There was so much smoke, we had to drive through it to find the house, and couldn't even see it right in front of us. And...I got to be the first one in!! For us, we all want in, and we all want the hose so we can attack the fire. I went in and crawled through the smoke til I could feel the heat, went a little farther and then could see a glow...went a little farther and there it was! Went a little farther into the room...you don't turn your water on yet, so you are surrounded by flames, up the walls, above you on the ceiling, and it's just rolling everywhere, then it starts to get really hot, but that way you can see the fire and where it is traveling to and from. You always want to hit the base of it.

I will admit...on an 84 degree day (or truthfully any degree day) I do not fully appreciate in the depths of my heart, the joy of donning all that fire gear and running (first!) into a structure engulfed in flames and heading straight into the dangerous heart of the thing just to fight it. To me it sounds scary, exhausting, and like a heat stroke waiting to happen.

But sitting there in the auto shop, scrolling through the story, I had the biggest grin on my face, because his joy for his job radiated out of that phone, and I was so excited for him that he got to be the first one into the fire, since clearly, it's what he loves.

Then I re-read the text...paying attention to the way they fight the fire. (It's a little bit more controlled than my method, which is frantic-jumping-up-and-down-screaming-FIRE!!!! This is why he's a firefighter and I'm a writer.)

And as I read, God turned that text around into a heart lesson for me.

My life occasionally takes on massive-fire-sized drama. Days when the problems roll as heavy as thick smoke and I'm not even sure how to find my way through to the other side.

And God is about as scared of those problems as Bob was of this fire. When those days come, God is the first one in. He runs headlong into the heart of my problem, going deeper and deeper, not even worrying how messy or hot or dangerous it might be. He just goes straight in. Sometimes He doesn't start putting out the fire right away. He just stands there as the flames lick and roll and threaten to consume me...and He has full awareness of how they travel. Then He begins to fight. And He doesn't leave until the fire is gone. Even if it takes a long time. Even if it's exhausting work.

Sometimes I'm convinced He's the only one in the thick of those problems. Everyone else is a safe distance away, hand-over-mouth, shaking-head, watching me be consumed. But He's the One Who knows how to fight what comes for me, so He's the One I need in there.

I don't know if you have any life fires burning around you right now, but if you do, you can know He will fight for you too!