Fire on the Mountain

A couple of years ago my husband and I were in the market to buy a house.  We would be first time homeowners, and we were so excited about the possibilities.  We looked at several, and put an offer in on the one that we thought would perfect for us;  the offer wasn't excepted, and after several counter-offers, it fell through; we were left disappointed and still looking.  In all of it, God knew that there was a better house for us;  it was a bigger house in a better neighborhood, and we fell in love with it at first sight.  It wasn't that it was perfect; it had been a rental property for years and the place hadn't been renovated since it was built in the 1970's, but that's why we loved it.  It was a clean slate for us.  It wasn't updated, so the price was well within our range, and at the closing we were given a check to help start the renovations that it needed.  Don't get me wrong, it was livable, but the pea green bathtub with the black tile walls around it had to go, as did the tack strips left around each room from a carpet that was pulled up at who knows what point.  We replaced all of the interior doors and the garage door, we built a new deck, got a new driveway, and replaced all of the windows.  The best part about our house is that it's ours to do all of those things with;  we got to pick it all and we got to put the work into it to make it become exactly what we wanted it to become.  One weekend my husband rented some equipment, bought paving stones and went to work laying a walkway from our driveway to the front door, and then from the front door to the backyard;  he did it all by himself and it's amazing.  We planted plants and trees, and fenced in the backyard;  it's a beautiful house on the side of a big hill with views of the water.  It's our home, and for a family who moves as much as we do it's a wonderful feeling to know that we have a place that belongs to us somewhere in this world. 

I was on my way to the grocery store yesterday morning with three screaming boys in the backseat when my phone rang; it was my husband who is away again for a while.  My happy greeting to him was met with these words, "There was a fire at the house this morning..." 

It was freak accident;  the power lines underground in our front yard surged.  The surge found the cable box and it ignited.  Fortunately, God had His hand on the situation;  our tenants had just returned home from vacation, and had they not been there the whole house would've gone.  They were there though, they all got out fine, and our house, while charred on the outside and in need of new electrical wiring underground, was preserved on the inside. 

We're working through the insurance and rental issues from a few thousand miles away; it's been a stressful 48 hours to say the least, but step by step we're getting through. 

In my continuing journey through Exodus, I read about another fire this week:  a heavenly fire. 

Moses led the Israelites to the Desert of Sinai;  they made camp of the foot of Mount Sinai.  It was here that God once again spoke directly to Moses;  it was here that God prepared Moses and the Israelites to receive His law, His commandments. 

"On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.  Everyone in the camp trembled.  Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.  Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.  The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.  Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him."  Exodus 19:16-19

 

 

As the story goes, Moses was called up to the top of the mountain and he was told to go get Aaron and bring him up as well, but the rest of the Israelites were not to come up or they would perish. God had put limits on His people, guidelines that they were to follow when approaching Him, when dealing with the fire. It was at this time that God spoke His Commandments. 

 

When I read this, I was struck by the line, "...because the Lord descended on it in fire."  I was struck not because of our own fire incident for I read this the day before that happened;  I was struck by it because of the power and the force that fire holds.  It was again yet another example to me of what it means to "fear the Lord".

Exodus 20:18-21 says this, "When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear.  They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself and we will listen.  But do not have God speak to us or we will die.'  Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid.  God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'  The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was."

 

God showed His power through thunder and lightning, smoke and fire;  it got the Israelites' attention.  It got my attention too, and it not only helped to illustrate the "fear of the Lord", but to me it also speaks to the term "refining fire". 

 

God came down to His people in fire, He directly spoke His laws to them;  He gave them guidelines to keep their hearts clean and to stay "right" with Him.  He told them exactly how to live a life pleasing to Him, and in it I see God saying this, "Don't be afraid to walk through the fire when I call you to (like Moses and Aaron), or to be near the fire (like the Israelites)....if you follow My commandments, though you may get a little charred on the outside, the inside will remain intact...fear Me for I am powerful, but trust Me because I am loving.  You are My people, My beloved, the fire will hurt you if you don't respect it, if you don't follow the guidelines I gave you for dealing with it, but if you do, I will see you through it and I will bless you because of it." 

 

I hate that the house my husband and I have worked so hard on is now in a state of crisis; I hate that the outside is charred and that everyone in town knows all about what happened to our home, but I love that not one drop of water, or one lick of flame touched what was on the inside.  I see myself in my house, and in Moses making his way through the desert;  I've walked through some fires in my life, and I have met with God on some mountain tops, but in everything, through all of the refining and all of the doubts and close calls, my outside might be a little charred, but my inside still trusts in Christ alone, and when Christ dwells in your house, not a lick of flame or a drop of water will enter in. 

 

The Israelites didn't have the example of Jesus back then, but they had the hope of Him;  God's laws were their example, the guidelines they were to follow.  Their lives weren't easy, and they complained a lot, but they were God's chosen people, and He walked with them through the impossible, through the fire. 

 

Today, we have Jesus Christ as our example, and though our lives are not easy and though everyone around us may know our failures and see our charred shingles, when we accept Jesus into our lives, nothing in this world can touch us;  we need only to trust in Him and when we do He will see us through the impossible; He'll get us through the fire.