Choices Refined by Fire

She was facing the loss of her home. The fires rushing before the wind had already destroyed the homes of neighbors. Given a few moments, what would she choose to save?

I asked my sister-in-law about that day a couple of weeks ago when she and her husband had to choose. Her children are all grown and so it was just the two of them there to face what was coming.

Some friends had called to tell them to turn on the news. They didn't know anything unusual was going on. They didn't know they were in danger. It was just a normal Sunday afternoon. Yes, there were extremely high winds, but that is not unusual for their area this time of year.


When they realized what was happening, they looked outside and could see the smoke. The winds were gusting up to 70 mph. The fires were heading their way. They live on the edge of a canyon, making the job that much harder for the firefighters. 


There is only one road out of their neighborhood, so they decided it was time to choose what they would try to save. In that moment, she realized that the things she couldn't replace were the ones she treasured most: baby pictures of the kids, wedding albums, an old camera of her dad's. Things like that. They certainly weren't the most expensive things, but they were the most valuable. 


Sometimes the Lord gives us a "perspective check" so that we are reminded of what truly matters. Even if we never face a raging wildfire, we should learn to value "things" appropriately. Our lives so easily become cluttered with "stuff" and we spend so much of our time maintaining that "stuff", dusting, cleaning, repairing, protecting it. But in those moments of true clarity, we understand the freedom of being able to simply turn our backs and walk away from it, trusting Him completely. 


I'm proud of her. She recognized her truly valuable possessions and she released everything into His Hands. 


Freedom. 


Their house was spared, thank You, Lord. But, they would have been okay even if it burned. Because their trust is in Him, not in their "stuff".