Well as you well know, when I work I do not have the opportunity to blog every day and that is the case this week. However, I have to tell you this one.
My husband and I went out to the country this week and we found things much like we left them. We did a lot of work in a short amount of time and I was determined that I was going to complete one task that has been on my "list" for a while.
It has been too windy to burn anything but this week, we had a good day and I was going to burn something! Not just anything, I knew exactly what I was going to burn...a ladder. Yes, a ladder. It was an old maroon wooden, rotted, falling apart ladder.
I got that fire going and with my husband occupied on something else, I decided I was going to stick that baby in the burn barrel. I chuckled inside as I thought "Finally we will be rid of this thing that causes me to trip often. I have tripped on it, pinched my hand in it, broken a nail on it and I finally said "I'm done with you-burn baby burn!"
So I got the fire burning good! The flame came above the barrel and I tossed that "A frame" ladder in point first. As it burned, it went further down the barrel. I had to be careful not to let any burning wood fall out of the barrel and risk a fire so with a long stick, I would push it into the intense fire. At one point, I lost control of it and I had to yell out to my husband who immediately became the hero.
As I stood there, I took pleasure in myself and in the fire that was "destroying" this old ladder that was to be no more, the ladder that was often my thorn. Alas, we were done and off to a nice evening. I had gotten the best of that old ladder-I burned it!
The next morning as we planned to head out, I had to take one good look at that burn barrel. I was so proud of myself for getting rid of it. I felt like a kid waking up Christmas morning to open her gifts. To my surprise, I took one look and I saw something that completely changed my outlook.
The old wooden, rotting ladder had metal rungs. Each rung was supported by a metal piece that would not allow the user to fall suddenly. The wooden frame was supported by metal pieces that ensured it would hold up despite rotting.
I reached into that burn barrel and pulled out the metal rungs and thought...."sometimes God allows us to go through the fire but he always sustains us through it." He allows it so that what we are made of will rise to the top.
I questioned how many times I have tested God much like that ladder tested me. How many times had I changed God's plan or broken a promise much like that ladder. How many times had I just "gotten in God's way?"
Perhaps today you are feeling the heat or you may feel like you are going through a fire of trails in your life, take comfort in knowing that you will not burn! God often allows the heat to be turned up but it is only to refine us. It is often to do away with the bad but allow the solid to remain.
You are His...He knows your name.... He will not say "Burn baby burn!"
Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Your Savior. Isaiah 43:2-3
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