Consuming Fire

My sister called yesterday morning asking for prayer. Her youngest son and his family live in San Diego and at that hour were trying to decide whether to stay or leave. She was deeply concerned for their safety. I prayed with her and asked she keep me posted.

At that time I’d not realized the extent of the fires so turned on the television. We used to live in Los Angeles and know those Santa Anna winds each fall make this fire season, but I was not prepared for the pictures that I saw. By today, hundreds of homes have burned and thousands of people have been evacuated.

I’m not a pyromaniac or a storm chaser, but maybe understand their passion. Fire and extreme weather hold a fascination for me too, albeit a fearful one. A few months ago a fire in our neighborhood kept me at the window watching in horror. A large (empty) house burned to the ground but I couldn’t turn away. Even though fire terrifies me, I wanted to run over and be closer to watch it.

Storms are the same. I’ve seen wicked clouds, thunder and lightning with large hailstones, but never close the curtains. Watching them fills me with an emotional stew of awe and fear that I’m sure others share.

I’m also certain that this ability to feel both terror and awe is wired into us. These emotional responses are even necessary. Otherwise, we could not properly worship God.

Hebrews 12:28-29 says. “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”

Many people do not appreciate the mystery and majesty of God. Their response to Him is indifference, at best curiosity, but often irritation. However, the more I know about Him, the more I understand how He is a consuming fire. At the same time, I can serve Him with reverence, even delight.

I don’t want to compare God to the fires in California, only compare my feelings about Him to those fires. God is not a random destroyer of life and property. He is sovereign and has allowed this fiery tragedy, but His motivations are not evil. Even the mystery of that and the difficulty of understanding how He can be both holy and love itself are part of the fascination that I feel.

I stand near Him and cannot take my eyes off Him. I am awed by His power, but also humbled by His grace. He may be “a consuming fire,” but because of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, the only thing in me that He consumes is my sin, to which I say good riddance.

As I worship and gaze at His glory and radiance, I am changed. He takes away the dross in my life and gives me light and a deep passion to serve Him, and as the verse says, this incredible mixture of reverence and godly fear are part of that service.

Prayer is also part of serving Him. When my sister called, we both knew that God can rescue or not, keep a family safe or not, allow a home to burn or have the fires go around it. This knowledge is part of our reverence and fear.

So we tearfully prayed for our family and other families, asking for grace knowing that He is the Lord and will answer according to His will. I felt as if we were standing at the edge of a much larger fire, not knowing what He would do, yet knowing He loves us. Reverence and fear.

My sister later let me know that my nephew and his wife and children did leave early enough to miss the gridlock on the highways and are out of the fire zone. May they know and understand also that they are never out of the gracious reach of God, and respond to His care for them with reverence and godly fear.