First, an announcement:
Life has gotten quite busy during my unexpected break from writing while dealing with relocating to a new home. As a result, I will no longer be posting weekly. My intent is to post monthly (or bi-weekly if possible). Please keep checking back, but if you'd like to be notified when a new article is available, please sign up for those notifications at the bottom of the navigation panel to the left.
The last article I posted was on April 25, 2025 entitled "Faith and Works".
In a previous article, Trials by Fire, I wrote how my home had burned down in one of the wildfires that took place throughout my state on the previous March 19. The following articles revolved around how God was working in my life despite the loss of my home. If the article, Faith and Works, I showed what my life "had been reduced to" (mostly) in regard to material things of a photo of my belongings in a mostly empty storage unit.
God be praised for His mercy, His goodness, His faithfulness, and His provision!! Let me now tell you where He has brought me from the time of that article to this point.
In the article Trials by Fire, I wrote of how with the house and almost all of my belongings were destroyed, God preserved my passport in a closet that was untouched by smoke, fire, or water and still had the ceiling in tact. God had a few years prior set before me a path that was leading me to a ministry calling in Rwanda, and the preservation of my passport was like Him saying to me, "I told you I'm sending you to Africa; a housefire cannot stop My plans for you."
In this most recent trip to Rwanda to minister to the Acts4Rwanda students, our theme was on a few of the names of God.
- Jehovah Shalom - God of Peace
- Jehovah Jireh - God my Provider
- El Roi - God who sees me
- Jehovah Shammah - God is there / God is with me
Upon reflection of the lessons we brought to the children, it dawned on me that it was a lesson for myself too. Throughout the experience of losing my home, God had displayed and proved His nature from which all four of these names have been attributed to Him.
Jehovah Shalom - God of Peace
From the moment of the news about my home burning to even now as I write this, He has given me a complete peace about it that I cannot fully articulate. It truly is a "peace that passes understanding". He has blessed me with that level of peace a number of times, but this event would be the most impactful.
I have not for a single moment had any distress over the situation. I will have reminders spring up of things I no longer have, but I've not had a moment of sorrow despite it being the loss of my family home and my belongings.
Jehovah Jireh - The Lord Will Provide
From within an hour of learning about my home burning, God was at work through people. My family, my extended family, my church family, my small group family, and my friends surrounded me and supported me. The level of both emotional and material support provided was humbling and overwhelming.
But He also moved in His own way. In a short time, I began asking God for a new home that would 1) be somewhat remote so that I could have serenity, nature, and limited wildlife [a 'selfish' desire], 2) that would be close to my church family, 3) that would be close to my small group family, and 4) that would be a blessing to others.
Homes of moderate worth in the area near where my church and small group members are located are almost entirely out of my price range. There were a scant few that I would be able to afford in the area. One was on the market in a location I have wanted to live all my life, but my realtor and I learned through the kindness of another potential buyer that it was in horrible shape.
I didn't give up my prayer request except for the 'selfish' one. I told God that I would gladly give that up for the other 3 to be fulfilled. Soon I was led to a home on which I closed on in June. It halved my distance to the church (and the church will be relocating closer still!). It is within minutes of my small group members, and I was able to already open up my house for someone to reside temporarily while they sought their own new home. And - it has woods and trees on two sides and is in a quiet neighborhood.
God fully provided the three requests I asked for regarding my walk in the path He has set before me, and threw in the "selfish" request I made from a personal desire as well.
With the generosity and help from family and friends, I was able to furnish the house enough to be livable and comfortable in a short period of time.
El Roi - The God Who Sees Me
God saw me. The fire might have been unforeseen by me, especially since it was a natural disaster during uncommon circumstances. But it didn't surprise Him. Unaware myself, He had been preparing me for that moment, that event, and the things He had instore to replace what had been.
It's not unlike the story of redemption. When we repent from our sins and follow Christ, the Apostle Paul writes:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
Hagar faced tragedy and likely the death of her young son, and God saw her (she called him El Roi - God who sees me), and He directed her path so that she and her son lived. (See Genesis 16)
Almost the entirety of the things of my old life - the house and its contents, things of necessity, convenience, and desire that had been mine for many, many years - were gone. New things were coming!
Jehovah Shammah - God is there
In the middle of tragedies, people will often cry out "God! Where are you!?" in some manner of other.
God is always with those who are His. However, just like Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on the water with Jesus who was there with him, we can allow distractions to dim our sight and attention to God.
I could have allowed myself to panic and that peace of God would not have settled on me. I could have allowed myself to be sorrow-stricken at losing the home I had known for more than 50 years of my life, and that peace of God would not have settled on me. I could have been indignant and blaming God for "not protecting my home/stuff", and that peace of God would not have settled on me.
Through His calming Spirit over me at the onset of the tragedy I was facing, He was showing me: I'm here. I'm with you. You have nothing to fear.
It is often incumbent on our heart position to see God's desires and actions for our good.
When I received the news my home was burning, I first sent a text to my brother to let the rest of the family know. I next sent a text to my amazing small group who in turn alerted my church. I next prayed and turned the whole thing over to God. I was struck with a sense that I needed evidential action behind words. So I sang praise songs to God and worshipped Him declaring His goodness and His authority for the entirety of the drive to my neighborhood.
It is a response, it should be a believer's natural response, to experientially know God is there.
When hardships and tragedies, remember as a child of the living God, He is always with you. He may seem silent for a time, but He's always working for your good, and you are always in His sight and you are always in His hand from which ...
... neither death nor life, no angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Romans 8:38-39
I would happily say housefires fall under "nor anything else".
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