Controlled Burn

2 Samuel 7:28  -- “Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.”

Thick with smoke from the Okefenokee fires, when the sun came up from the East, the sky glowed a weird shade of mauve. My morning ritual of coffee at the back door windows to watch the show of playful squirrels and flirty feathered friends took on a strange rose-colored hue. Almost unsettling, even though I knew the source of the colors.

 Image: The Nature Conservancy

While the squirrels and birds seemed oblivious to the pink tinted atmosphere, I couldn't help but think of the fire fighters, the wild life, and the miles and miles of devastation. All because of one well-placed lightning strike. Florida is no stranger to wild fires. After all, we are known to be one of the most prone of the United States to storms with cloud to ground lightning.  ...Which is why, every single year great pains are taken to conduct controlled burns when the weather gets a little too dry. The burn ban goes into affect and fire fighters don their gear to set small little pockets of flame that go a long way to clearing out the dry and fire-prone under brush. These controlled and well- monitored measures prevent larger more furious fires from spawning during our frequent thunder storms.

Even when diligent effort is taken however, there are times when the forests are just too dry and a sudden bolt of molten electricity from roiling skies ignites a monster that leaves acres and acres of once lush wet lowland resigned to smoldering ash. When a fire storm takes hold of the crunchy understory, it's virtually kindling. Dry and ready to ignite. Resources to fight such beasts are then stretched so thin that weeks can go by with no hope of putting the fires out.

Imagine what fires would rage if a controlled burn policy weren't in place? It's almost UNimaginable.

That thought made me think of how very cluttered our spiritual lives can be at times. Within how many pots do we find our limited resources of time, attention, and prayer? Can it be that we attempt to put too much of our own control into our lives and welfare? If I attend that function or if I put my kids in this program or if I volunteer for such in such ... do I have better control over my own fulfillment/happiness? Am I trying to prove something or be something that needs notice? Or am I proving something to myself? Does all of our busy-ness deplete what time we would put into devotion and praise with our Lord - leaving our spiritual underbrush cluttered with bits and pieces of dry and crumbling kindling? Would a life-storm leave us with the giant soul crushing flames of a wildfire that seems to run out of control?  Maybe we need to implement a controlled burn.

All of us need to serve our Lord in what manner He has called of us - but we need to give God control over what that service entails. Running ourselves ragged or spreading ourselves too thin aren't ways to really serve Him.  All we manage to do then, is stay busy. Like busy work from a substitute teacher - it doesn't serve any purpose other than to keep the student busy.

In other words - maybe we need to thin out some of the underbrush. Remove some of the things that take away from our service to and our relationship with God. In 2Samual I am reminded that God's covenant is trustworthy. I love the way this is phrased because it's not only pointing out that God is sufficient, a Provider, and Holy. But that He is trustworthy. I don't have to rely on myself for fulfillment, completion and happiness. I can trust that what things God has given me to accomplish are enough. God has promised good things to His servant. I can trust Him. His word is TRUSTWORTHY.

Isn't that absolutely wonderful?