Ed St. Peter

Is God in the Fire? Ed St. Peter

MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!! My life was changed in an instant. I now have one pair of wet shoes, one t-shirt and one pair of shorts. The remainder of 58-years of belongings went up in flames. Oh, what a fire! Five months ago my mom fell, broke her hip and eight days later she died! Five weeks ago I had my left knee sawn in two, as I had my knee replaced. Now today, I was out for a short therapy walk to rehab my knee. I heard screaming sirens, I saw billows of smoke, and within a couple of moments two police squad cars and multiple fire trucks flew past me, right to the end of the block ? right in front of my house. A feeling of dread and panic enveloped me. I wanted to run, I had to run, but I was unable to run. My young granddaughter was in the shower when I left the house. Was she still alive! By the time I hobbled one short block to my house the entire roof was engulfed in flames. The flames where shooting out of both ends of the house. As the roof collapsed into the house from the intense heat and flames, everything I owned, my prized possessions, my two dogs, my computers, my Bible, all my memories were gone in the flash of an eye. I had to ask God. Why ME? And why NOW? The answer to those questions came not during the fire, but through the ?fire.? God often uses extreme measures to get our attention, to cause us to fall on our knees, to seek his face and to surrender totally to his sovereign reign in our lives. I fell to my knees with my eyes looking to the heavens, begging the Lord ? Please help me, please!! What transpired from that moment was enormous pain and loss, but also many ?God Sighting? to provide hope through tragedy. As Job said in the Bible, ?The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.? Come walk with me, through this horrific tragedy and hopefully you will find what I found ? a faithful and loving God who not only walked with me through the ?fire,? but at many times carried me in the palm of his hand!