Life after the 🔥

 Recently, my family and I took my first trip to The Great Smokey Mountains to celebrate 3 years living free from the grips of meth addiction. 

Our mountaintop cabin for the weekend was recently re-established in 2020 after having been destroyed in a forest fire. The entire mountain climb previous devastation was evident both in the plethora of newly built vacation rentals and in scenery.  Everywhere you turned the previous fires path was evident. While there was plenty of dense forest remaining, there was also patches of new growth amongst still standing charred remains of once thriving vegetation and trees. 

I couldn’t help but relate to God’s handiwork amongst the growth and the devastation, and it got me to thinking and researching what it takes for proper regeneration after a roaring fire. 

A forest CANNOT regenerate in a drought. It needs moisture. In fact, slower growth in younger trees due to a drought create a lack of carbon dioxide which, in turn,  increases global warming. Immediately upon discovery, Holy Spirit related this to human life and our need for Living Waters. Jesus said,  “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become IN HIM a spring of Water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14  

He also showed me that without the triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, operating and moving in our lives(in this case the 3 atoms that make up CO2) we are doomed for the releasing of hell’s heat(global warming) on our lives. Producing more devastation in the all ready dry and dead places. Ecologists say that “drought prevents post-fire restoration by putting stress on fragile, new growth. Forests and many kinds of trees need a humid, relatively moist climate to grow after fire seasons. When a region is locked in drought, soil remains dry and brittle, preventing seedlings from taking root in the newly exposed soil. 

It’s not enough to get clean. Sure we survived the 🔥fire, but without Holy Spirit in us, God commanding us, and Jesus leading the way, we leave ourselves in a place of severe risks, susceptible to more blazing infernos.  

Did you also know that “fires create loose soil causing the earth to give-way so firemen spend countless hours in fire suppression repair mode? Repairing the soil so the foundation doesn’t completely fail.  

It’s not enough to just get clean. We must live in suppression repair mode, surrendered to the process, allowing Him to tend to the soil, so that His word may take root in good soil (Matthew 13:8-26.) He brought us all out of the desert into fertile land (Jeremiah 2:7,) so we ought to delight and follow in Him. “But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” Psalms‬ ‭1:2-3‬ 

The point of fact that brought me the most hope while studying about forest regeneration is this; that even when it all appears to be burnt to a crisp, there is life amongst the dead things. “After fires, the charred remnants of burned trees provide habitats for insects and small wildlife, like the black-backed woodpecker and the threatened spotted owl, which make their homes in dry, hollow bark.”  Maybe your 6 days in. Feeling lifeless, scorched and scorned. But listen, my friend.  If you’ve cried out to your Heavenly Father, there is also abundant life in you. Don’t be fooled by how things appear to be. Don’t be hung up on the devastation around you and your burnt remains.  I’ll say it again, “There is ABUNDANT LIFE IN YOU!!!”  Jesus said, He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) and that, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35  He not only saved you from the fire. He will sustain you here in the land of the living.  

Jeremiah tells us that, “blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It DOES NOT FEAR WHEN HEAT COMES; its leaves ARE ALWAYS green. IT HAS NO WORRIES IN A YEAR OF DROUGHT and NEVER FAILS to BEAR FRUIT (Jer 17:7-8.)  Here we see the word “Lord” in all capital letters.  When we read this in the Bible it’s like a landlord, in charge of and overseeing every aspect of our lives.  When we allow Him to be LORD over all and not just our Savior then and only then can we be confident that we will forever be rooted in Him, drinking of those living waters, always bearing fruit, never to be burnt up again.  Ask Him to reveal those areas to you that you have been withholding from Him. Surrender those areas and you will begin to take root. 

I’m so grateful there was another in the fire(Daniel 3:25)and in Him is living waters, I drink of Him and never thirst again (John 4:13-15) He gives it to us without payment (Revelation 21:6.)  

Jesus paid the price for us (1 Cor 16:20.)

Like forest regeneration, Recovery, living born again, is a Process. Our relationship with Him is a process. It takes daily surrender (1 Cor 15:31) in order to stay in alignment with His will. It take being transparent with our burnt and scarred parts as we are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony as long as we aren’t afraid to die to our selves daily (Rev 12:11.) 

If you’re still in the fire, look around you and reach out to Him. He is there with you. You’re going to come out alive not even smelling like smoke.  The scarred places will be there, some even visible, what a testament to His protection, to His Glory, and of His love for you. 

You may even look like death, but just like the forest there is life in you, those charred remnants providing a habitat for all that still lives in you. 

It may be day 3, year 3, or even year 33, after the fire, however long it is, continue to seek Him above all else(Matt 6:33,) following Jesus’ example in how you live daily, keeping those living waters flowing, allowing Holy Spirit to keep the waters stirred, allowing God to reign over your life. 

Recovery is Possible, but growth after the wildfire is only possible with the Triune raining/reigning over your life. 

*research on forest regeneration found at sierraclub.org

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