Beating Back Flames

As the kids and I were driving back from the grocery store  on Friday we saw this plume of black smoke rising up in the sky. As we drove  towards our home we saw the fire was close to our area. We drove behind the  boys school to see four and then five mobile homes on fire. (We found out later  the houses caught fire after some boys were playing with matches and cigarettes.)

We walked over to a large swath of dirt to watch and wait  for the fire trucks to arrive. The grass around the buildings had caught fire.  It was burning in all directions. We could see young men all around ripping off  branches of mesquite trees and swatting at the flames. You might think it was a
futile effort, but they actually did stop the spread of the fire.

People lives are on fire all around us. All kinds of crazy  things burn people up.  Often we feel helpless to beat down those flames to stop people from being engulfed in a problem. Often the only way for those problems to get resolved is to let them  burn themselves out.  We can simply come along  side of them after the fire to offer our prayer, support and guidance.

But there are always small flames on the periphery. We can make a difference in keeping the flames from spreading father. From affecting other areas of their lives and from affecting other people. Our efforts to share the gospel may seem small at times, but they do keep small fires from growing and engulfing more lives. That is not a small thing. Rejoice in how God is working in you.