Pasamos por el Fuego

After a day of cleaning and scrubbing to erase the mark and scent of the fire from my house, the theme of “fire” was fresh in my mind as I planned the lesson for Clase Biblica this week. Our group has been a bit smaller lately and 14 girls (plus two little sisters and two other teachers) came to class today. I started the lesson by talking about the fire in our house and what the house looked like when I returned home on Monday. Kaina and Lali (from Casa Monte Plata) also chimed in and described the house as “un disastre” (a disaster) since they helped us clean yesterday after school. The girls were laughing as they described all the male teachers and staff members from school putting out the fire on Friday during class. I still wish someone had recorded a video!

I told the girls that God used the fire to guide me towards stories and verses about fire in the Bible. We read in Daniel 3 about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery (7x more fiery than normal) furnace because they refused to worship anyone but the One True God. I asked the girls to imagine what those young men were thinking when they stood on the precipice, looking down towards the flaming furnace. “Ok God….now would be a good time to rescue us!” Can you even begin to fathom what thoughts were racing through their heads as the guards hurled them down towards the blazing inferno? “Any time now, Lord!”

But God didn’t extinguish the fire. God didn’t put out the flames.

He did, however, stand in the fire with them.

And He did bring them out on the other side.

So often in life we are called to walk through fires. Sometimes the fires are put in our path by God. Sometimes we start our own fires of sin or are forced to face a fire as a consequence of a bad decision. But sometimes lightning strikes unexpectedly and suddenly we are standing in front of a fire that we didn’t ask for and don’t necessarily deserve.  My girls made a list of those metaphorical fires that we have to walk through: broken friendships, hunger, loneliness, sickness and disease, anger, fighting, death, divorce, fear, poverty.

The fires we walk through

I told my girls that we often wish that God would simply “put out the fires.” But I really think we need to change our prayers – not that God would extinguish the flames, but that He would teach us how to trust Him more as we walk through the flames with Him. God is calling me not to stare at the fire, but to stare directly at Him as He leads me through it.  Fires are an opportunity to look at God more closely, get to know Him better, and trust Him further.  

The Bible is full of references to God’s presence in the fire. He does not leave us to walk through the difficulties of life on our own.

Exodus 13:21 – And the Lord went before them (the Israelites leaving captivity in Egypt)…by night in a pillar of fire to give them light…

God in the fire.

Deuteronomy 4:24 – The Lord your God is a consuming fire…

God in the fire.

1 Kings 18:38-39 – Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the offering…And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God…”

God in the fire.

The girls and I ended our time together by etching Psalm 66:12 in scratch-art paper. We talked about how the smoke of a fire (represented by the black surface of the paper) sometimes obscures our view of all the Lord is doing for us in the midst of the trial. But when we look for God, we will always find Him right there with us, walking through the fire, guiding us with His love, giving us His peace, and shining through the smoke with His hope.

We went through fire…yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.

-Psalm 66:12

We etched this promise into our scratch-art paper and I told the girls that this verse doesn’t just apply to those of us who have already come out of a fire. It applies before and during the fire as well.

I see the fire that I am going to walk through, and I trust that you will bring me out.

I am walking through the fire right now, and I trust that you are bringing me out.

One of the teachers who helps with our Bible study received a phone call during class to tell her that her grandmother had been taken to the hospital. We stopped and prayed before she left that God would give her His peace as He leads her through this fire. Five girls stayed behind after class and asked me to pray for specific fires that they are walking through in their homes and with their families. I pray this afternoon that God uses our lesson to encourage and strengthen some of you who are reading right now. If you’re looking at a fire, standing in the middle of one, or finally coming out on the other side, find peace in the promise that our God is walking through the flames with you. 

Working on our projects

Working on our projects

Our "fire" snacks - red and orange soda and nacho cheese doritos :)