“…the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.” Isaiah 60:20, NIV
Several years ago, my husband Richard and I took a trip to Yellowstone Park. The park encompasses miles and miles of land, so after walking around for a couple of hours, we decided to take a rest and drive our car through parts of the park. Something I had not anticipated was how much previous fires had changed the landscape. As far as the eye could see, remaining of what was once a beautiful forest stood burnt out tree trunks and brush scrub that echoed of a lost treasure. I remarked to Richard how sad I felt, looking at the desolation. Then, I remembered a story I had heard only a few weeks before our trip about how forest fires can have a positive effect. As a matter of fact, controlled fires take place from time to time for this very reason. The ecosystem benefits greatly from such fires in the regeneration of nutrients needed for a healthy environment that result from forest fires.
We have all seen the fires on the news that have been burning and continue to burn out of control in the state of California. These fires do not even come close to resembling the type of “controlled burn” mentioned earlier. Property and lives have been lost. The livelihoods of so many people have in an instance, literally gone up in smoke; thousands will have to start over.
Since making the trip to Yellowstone Park, I have experienced personal, devastating losses as have many, if not most of you reading this writing. In the year 2020, I suspect everyone has grown a deeper appreciation of life on earth as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. But I want to offer a word of encouragement in these trying times. Nothing in God’s kingdom goes to waste. Nothing! Not even fires that burn out of human control. Not even a virus that threatens to wreak havoc on living a normal life.
Friend, while every new day seems to bring a new challenge, hold onto the promises of God and never let go of them.
“[God] has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV)