Devoured by the Flames

If you’ve been following the news, you’ve seen the terrifying images of the fast-moving fires here in California.

Last Friday, in the darkness of night, Ken and I heard the news that we needed to grab the essentials from our house and flee. The Woolsey Fire spread so quickly, that many of my co-workers living throughout the area likewise evacuated. Even here in Agoura Hills, the fire licked at the property line of the International Disability Center before firefighters were able to stop those flames. Today is the first day we’ve been able to return to the office since the blaze started, and we’re all processing the events of the last week… first the shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill, just a few exits up the freeway… and then the fire. And in Northern California, the entire city of Paradise consumed.

The pictures and videos I’ve seen of people escaping from the flames brings to mind Hebrews 12:29 which says, “For our God is a devouring fire.”

This closes the chapter where the author of Hebrews reminds the readers of the fear and trembling the people of Israel experienced at the foot of Mount Sinai when Moses met there with God.

And just like the flames sped through homes and businesses, the author of Hebrews warns, “We will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!”

Driving to work today, through the charred hills on either side of the freeway, my heart broke for the families who have lost everything. And yet at the same time, I am spurred on by a sense of urgency that those who reject God will have no escape. And that drives me to plead on behalf of my unsaved friends and neighbors… the clerk at Chico’s, the servicemen who rotate the tires on my van, the people up and down this valley. Join me in praying that these men and women would not escape these flames only to perish in the end.

–Joni Eareckson Tada