To Begin Again...

It turned out to be a beautiful day, actually. It was somewhere in the mid-to-high 70s. The sky was a beautiful clear blue... not a cloud around.

With my children tucked in for a late afternoon nap, I took a step out on to my driveway out front to look, once again, at the house that was consumed by flames so much earlier that morning. This was a moment of time that has become imprinted on our memories for a lifetime. Our normally quiet street has maintained a steady flow of various visitors from police, to fire dept, to inspectors, to news crew and to many curious observers. There was such devastation in a short period of time. Although a good neighbor had called the moment they smelled and saw smoke, the fire had gone undetected long enough to consume everything completely. If you stood in front of the house (before they bordered it up and condemned the home) you could see right through to the back yard and into every part that once had been a carefully decorated room.

A clip on lamp had been left on, from what I understand, in one of the children's rooms. To it's own demise, the clip had released it's fateful grip, landed on the linens and the rest of the story writes itself. No one was home, thankfully, when this happened. Everyone was on their way to work and where they needed to be to be ready for the day.

My heart filled with compassion and my eyes with tears as I quietly observe from my driveway, the family standing there out in front of the scene silently looking at their home... at the place that had been their haven where they would rest their heads and share their meals. What consumes their thoughts in these moments I wonder. Perhaps a mental list of things lost... or perhaps considering things that had been left undone that they had planned on getting to when they arrived home from a hard day's work. Maybe they were remembering all the memories that this home held... the sorrow and the joy alike. They could have been thinking nothing at all just staring in disbelief wanting to wake up from this horrible dream.

This Family had lost a husband/Father/Grandfather not too long ago.. maybe a year at most. I remember praying for them that day, too. Praying for them to begin again and trust their sorrowful hearts to God the Father. We prayed for them then, and we pray for them now.. to begin yet again.

There had been nothing left to claim, the fire had already made it's selection. In circumstances such as these how easy it is to say "God where are you!?!" Job 38:1 Then the LORD answered Job [Cynthia and her family] out of the storm.

In the home everything was black, burned and destroyed. Some of the charred items were recognizable, you could tell what they once were... others there was no indication of what they might have been. You could scan from room to room, seeing one black thing after another. And finally... when you came to the garage it was spotted. A metal shelving unit had melted under the intense pressure and heat of the fire... everything that shelf once held was burned to ashes.. everything but a very colorful picture.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words... and this spoke to my heart today. It's a picture from a bible that had belonged to the Husband/Father/Grandfather that had passed away. The cover of the Bible had burned away, leaving this picture entitled "The Good Shepherd" almost completely intact. ...."Then the Lord answered out of the storm..." God is in the midst of our storms, all of them. He tells us in His Word that not even a fallen sparrow goes beyond His notice. He numbers the hair on our heads and knows the fullness of our hearts.


Psalm 107:28-30
28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.

He can still our storms to a whisper and hush the waves on our behalf. God will make a way when there seems to be no way... and in the meantime we must hold on to Him for our strength and our comfort. When the reporters asked this beautiful woman what she would do next, she replied with "I don't know" but I hear the heart of God saying "My child, you will begin again, but you will not do it alone"

Perhaps, through this reflection God is telling you the same thing. You may ask "God where are you" - He is with you in the midst of the storm in the heat of the fire. You may wonder what will you do, how can you go on... you need to know that you can begin again, you can move forward with confidence, knowing that you will not do it alone. God tells us in Corinthians that His grace is sufficient, and it really is, when you bathe in the sufficiency of His grace.

Thank you Jesus, for your mercy and your care. Lord I thank you that this family of four is still here to testify of your mercy and grace. Thank you for the protection on their lives, and Lord we just now believe for provision for them. Place people into their lives to provide for everything they have lost, and cause them to be blessed as well as those who are obedient to help to be blessed. Thank you for the message you have for us through this storm, and let the love penetrate this family's heart so they know that you truly do answer from the midst of the storm. Cause this storm to fade to a whisper and be but a memory. We love you Father. In Jesus name, amen.