Let’s acknowledge the huge power of fire

Stories of fires hit news headlines when they cause devastation leading to a loss of life or cause damage to buildings or land, for example those in the Amazon rain forest and the historic Belfast Primark building.

Sadly, many fires are started deliberately.

The ferocity of gorse fires was brought home to me this year as I stood and watched flames bellowing up the cliff at the bottom of some of our fields. It was incredible how the sun disappeared from view behind the thick smoke. There was much relief as two fire engines arrived.

Obtaining water was difficult, even though there was an abundance in the Irish Sea below! It had to be transported from a hydrant at the main road which was a slow process as the crew had to negotiate a lane and farmyard. It took several hours before every flame was extinguished.

We are ever grateful to the firefighters for all their work and to neighbours who not only alerted us to the plight of the cattle grazing in the field, but helped us move them to safety.

We often think of fire in a negative way — however it has many positive uses, for example cooking, generating heat and light, incineration of waste and in purification.

The Bible has a lot to say about fire with around 500 references and it also points to many positive attributes. In early times most cooking would have been carried out over an open fire which was also a source of heat.

In Exodus chapter 3 we read of a bush that was on fire, but was not consumed!

God spoke to Moses from the bush and called him to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. The story continues in chapter 13 when God used a pillar of fire to give them light as they journeyed at night.

However, there are also prophesies of warning in the Bible as shown in Revelation 20:15, “Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

This is a warning about the final judgement when only those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour will have their name written into this book.

When you live and work on a farm it is easy to get caught up in daily events and think these are the most important things in life.

We can put our hope and trust in material things, or even in other people, and yet we will only live on this earth for a short while compared to the time we will spend in eternity.

In 2 Thessalonians 1:6,7 we read, “God is just: He will...give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.”

In this world there will always be problems and cares yet, if we follow Jesus, we can cling to the knowledge that He is with us each day as we look forward to the greatest event of all when He will return in blazing fire.

Charlotte Stevenson farms with her husband, Jim, and son, James, near Kilkeel and is a member of Mourne Presbyterian Church.

If you would like to talk to someone about this article, please email Rev. Kenny Hanna at [email protected] or call him on 028 9753 1234.