What Happens When You Have a Controlled Burn

I went for a walk today with my daughters along the trails of Latta Plantation. It was a beautiful day, but as we were driving into the park, we noticed that the park had suffered several fires. Upon closer inspection, we found out that these were controlled burns. The fire department had come in to burn away a lot of the brush. There are several reasons to do a controlled burn. When underbrush has been burned away, new growth that would have been choked out can now flourish. Another benefit of a controlled burn is preventing uncontrolled forest fires or preventing a fire from traveling further. It stops the destruction, and the fire burns out.

Today, as we walked on the trails and saw the fires' aftermath, I realized that God will do a controlled burn in our lives.

We all know what it is like to go through the fires of life. Times when it feels like we might not make it out alive. I'm not talking about physical fire here. I'm talking about the trials of life.

It may feel like a full-fledged fire, but it's not. God is in control, and he's allowing it for our good.

Sometimes, He's burning away the things that don't matter. He's burning away the things that choke the life out of the good gifts He has for us. COVID has done that for some of us. Stay-at-home orders gave more time for family. I saw more families out walking and enjoying each other's company. Sometimes we fill our lives with good and noble things but leave no room in the margin. And life is lived in the margin. Sometimes we fill too much of our time with things that don't have value. When God does a controlled burn in our lives, it makes room for new growth. It makes room for life.

A controlled burn is very intentional and very precise. It is the same with our loving Father. It may not feel that way as we're walking through the fires. But like it says in Isaiah 43:2, we will not be burned.

Sometimes the trials we face are small compared to the disaster that would have happened had God not intervened. Look at Elijah. After Elijah told King Ahab that there would be no more rain, God told Him to go the brook Cherith. Elijah spent three years hiding from the angry king. There was fire all around, figuratively speaking. With the lack of rain, the ground was getting harder, and crops stopped growing. Life was getting more and more difficult for the king and the people of Israel. All the while, Elijah was sitting by a brook that was slowly drying up, being feed by ravens twice a day. All he had to sustain him was God.

This was a controlled burn.

Elijah was being taken care of and provided for, but it couldn't have been easy. God was preparing him to confront Israel and King Ahab with their sin. Queen Jezebel had led the people into idol worship and killed many of God's prophets. One hundred prophets were hiding in a cave in fear for their lives. Elijah was going through a fire, but it was not going to harm him. The nation of Israel was going through a fire, but it would not consume them. The fire Elijah was experiencing was to save Israel from an all-consuming fire that would completely destroy them. By worshipping foreign gods, Israel had started a fire. God, full of mercy, was saving them from the fire, with fire. If not for this trial, Israel would have been destroyed. If not by God, by their own hands. God's controlled burn prevented a greater disaster.

No one likes to go through the fire. But, if we pay attention, we will see that it was all for our good. God was burning away brush so that better things could have life.

If you want to read the story of Elijah, It starts in 1 Kings 17.