I am a big fan of nature shows and last night my daughter and I were watching one in which they were talking about giant sequoia trees. I marveled as they showed the beautiful giants and explained that they were the tallest trees in the world. At one point a man standing beside one of the trees really gave you an idea just how huge the magnificent trees really are. As I listened to them talk about the trees, I learned two amazing facts that really astounded me. They explained how they have learned from studying the trees that a forest fire actually helps them.
They explained how the huge trees have layers of protection and when a fire comes, it only burns off what is on the outside surface. The inside of the tree is never damaged or harmed. I found that fascinating but then they went on to explain something that amazed me even more. They said, and I quote, “Sequoia trees are actually born from the fire.” I listened in absolute amazement as they explained how the fires clear away the debris on the forest floor so that seeds can have space to grow. They need the fire to prepare the way for new birth!
What they showed next gave me chills! The cones of the giant sequoia’s do not open and release seeds until the heat of a fire causes them to open up and release the seeds. The fire brings heat necessary to bring forth the seeds of new life! I hope you find that as amazing as I do! I honestly sat there in complete amazement saying, “Wow, God!” I have marveled over this all day long as I have pondered over the words they said. “Born from the fire.” These huge trees, the amazing beauties will not reproduce new life until the heat of flames touch them. Only God, my friends, only God!
I am so excited as I try to figure out where to begin! God has really stirred my heart with the knowledge that the beautiful sequoia’s can not only withstand the fire but actually need the fire to produce new life! I looked at those big beautiful trees and wondered how many fires they had withstood and as I looked at the sheer number of trees in the forest, I marveled at how many fires it took to produce all those trees. I found it so amazing that these trees could withstand the hot blazes of the fires that had swept through the forest. I kept thinking about what they had said.
The fire didn’t touch the inside of the tree, it only burned away what was on the outside. Sometimes before God can produce the new growth He wants to bring into our lives, He has to “burn away” some of the unnecessary things we’ve been clinging to. Sometimes He has to remove some of the outer edges and though the fires may get hot, they don’t touch the real us that is hidden deep within our hearts. The real us is hidden in Christ and no matter how hot the fires of life may get, they cannot touch that part of us. We are safe in His hands, shielded from the flames!
“For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” Col. 3:3. No flame, however hot it may be, can touch the real you, the you that is hidden in Christ. Those flames are meant to burn away the dross, not destroy the real you! And just like the flames were necessary to prepare the way for new growth, sometimes we need some things to be cleared away from our lives. Sometimes we have to lose some things, walk away from some things, or get rid of some things in our lives so that God can prepare us for the new thing that He is about to do.
Sometimes the pain we are going through is actually meant to help us. Sometimes the pain we endure isn’t meant to break us but to remake us. Sometimes the flames are clearing the path so that something new, something beautiful can grow! Even as I type these words, I realize I can attest to this in my own life. Sometimes the things I thought would break me, were just what I needed to remake me. I know from personal experience that the flames hurt, but when the pain passes and the smoke clears, something beautiful begins to blossom.
Which brings me to the beautiful visual of those cones opening up and allowing the heat of the flames to bring forth the seeds of new life. Oh, my beloved, that fire that you thought would destroy you? It came to bring just what was necessary to bring forth new life. That fire didn’t come to destroy you my beautiful friend, it came to pave the way for something new, something beautiful that God plans to do in your life! I know the fires may be hot, I know that you may long to be free of the oppressive heat of the scorching flames but hold on my friend!
Don’t give up, God is working, and He will bring something good out of this if you will but surrender and allow the flames to do what they came to do. “But he knows the way I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” Job 23:10. The refining fire is never a fun place to be, but it is a necessary step in the sanctification process. We all face the fire at some point or another and we must decide how we will handle it. Will we allow the flames to do their work, refining and purifying us? Or will we fight against the flames, refusing to surrender to what God desires to do with them?
Our attitudes while we are in the flames determine what the flames do. If we choose to surrender to the flames, allowing them to do the work they were meant to do, God can and will bring new life from it. This means we must choose to look to Him, cling to Him, no matter how hot the flames may grow. We must allow Him to dictate the attitudes of our heart. And we must be willing to learn to praise Him in the midst of the fire. In other words, just like those cones open themselves up to the flames, we must open ourselves up to the work of the Holy Spirit.
We must allow the Holy Spirit to burn away anything He deems necessary so that new life can be released. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” Psalm 139:23-24. We can choose to resist the flames, we can whine and complain about how hot they are, and we can refuse to learn the lesson, but we are actually hurting ourselves and hindering our growth. I don’t know about you my friend, but I want to grow.
I find that I am so encouraged by these beautiful sequoia trees! These huge giants are born from the fire and the fires they go through do not hurt them, they only burn away the unnecessary stuff. As I look back over the fires I have faced in my life I find I have a better appreciation for them now. And while I cannot honestly say I look forward to the fires that are yet to come, I hope now that I will learn to see them in a different light. I hope now that when the fires come, I will see them as something that has come to help me in some way, not something that came to harm and destroy me!
What an amazing thought my friend. I am born from the fire! The fire will not destroy me; it will refine me. This fire will not break me; it will break me open and bring forth something new. This fire will bring forth seeds that will bring new life, seeds that will make a difference for years to come. God is going to do something amazing with the seeds He has brought forth from the flames. Oh, my friend, there is no limit to what God can do with the seeds He brings forth in your life! I hope you will trust Him and allow Him to help you to be born in the fire!
Stand tall in those flames my friend and refuse to give in! Trust Him to bring you out of the fire more beautiful than you ever were before. You don’t know it yet, but you are already so beautiful, and those flames are only purifying you and making you more beautiful. “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” 1 Peter 5:10. Hang in there my beautiful friend, you are not going to be destroyed, you are going to be planted!
See also: Isaiah1:25 & 48:10; 1 Peter 1:7
Katrina Douglas
