Fire

There have been year this day has passed by without me even realizing it. There have been other years when it's been all I could think about.

Today isn't a day I want to celebrate but it is a day I have to stop and give thanks. There's an altar of remembrance built on this day years ago in memory of the great redemption the Lord has done in my life.

I got the call in the middle of the night. I could see the horrifying flames from miles away. The entire sky was bright orange in the middle of the night. It's a scene I'll never forget. The house burning was like the icing on the cake of what was already life destroyed. The days and weeks that followed were arduous and difficult; a blur in the midst of what was already tumultuous and chaotic.

I don't want a single ounce of sympathy. I need you to understand what this is all about. This is about what you see now. Everything I have, all I am, what I've learned, who I've become, every pulverized piece, every single ash molded by the Sovereign hands of a redeeming God.

He spoke the heavens and earth into existence. He calmed the seas with just a word. Standing in the midst of ash and soot, destruction and despair, I had to believe He was going to use this, even this, to make me stronger. I had to trust He could put it all back together with just one word. What I wasn't fully aware of was how He would do this but years later I can testify to His promises come true.

The years the locusts had destroyed of my life, the plans and dreams I had that I couldn't fix or control, have more than been redeemed. Hear me on this! He doesn't leave you stranded or undone. There is nothing, absolutely no one, He will leave unredeemed.

If you have any hope, any confidence in believing He is who He says He is and He will do what He says He can do, then trust me when I say that my life is an example of His redeeming work.

There’s a song I would listen to over and over, praying for God to make it true for me:

“I'll build an altar with the rubble that You've found me in
And every stone will sing of what You can redeem

Heal the wound but leave the scar
A reminder of how merciful You are
I am broken, torn apart, take the pieces of this heart
And heal the wound but leave the scar

Don't let me forget
Everything You've done for me
Don't let me forget
The beauty in the suffering

Heal the wound but leave the scar...”

Today I remember. Today I honor the years since this day that seemingly took every worldly possession. Today I recognize His redemption of beauty from ashes. The wound has long since been healed but today represents a scar to serve as a reminder of all He’s done.