[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Tuesday, August 5, 2014

[Paul]

Hello and good day to you all.  Of course, for you in Australia and New Zealand it's already Wednesday morning, but for the rest of us as this is being written it's still Tuesday.  I do hope that you are all doing well, by God's matchless grace and His providential care.

Before I give you today's article, here is the answer to Sunday's Bible trivia game.  It was I Peter 4.


Marlene Depler lives in Colorado and, some years ago she wrote an article that I'd like to share with you today, even though many of you have already read it previously.  It is entitled "Beauty From Ashes" and is rendered as follows:

Huge billows of black smoke rose from the mountains to the northwest of our home.  Storm Mountain was ablaze.  Firefighters were called in to contain the fire and attempt to protect the homes in the area.

After the fire was extinguished, my husband and I drove up the steep, winding road to see the damage.  Acres and acres of beautiful trees were now only blackened sticks on the sides of the mountain.  The devastation was sickening.

Two summers later, we took another drive up Storm Mountain.  Blankets of wildflowers in lavender, white, yellow, pink, and red covered the once marred mass of rock and earth.  Charred tree trunks still stood as a memorial of what had once happened.  Nevertheless, unbelievable beauty had risen from the ashes of a horrible fire.

Firestorms of disappointment, heartache, loss and pain also come into our lives.  We all end up singed, scorched, scarred, and charred--to some degree or another.  Our own poor choices may bring ugly consequences.  Things beyond our control may ravage us unexpectedly and leave our lives in rubble.  Yet the message of Storm Mountain is one of hope.  After a time, beauty can once again return from the ashes of our lives by the wonderful grace of God.

And there you have Marlene's article which I trust was a blessing for you.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the State of Colorado and its geography, I would like to state that it is the eighth largest state in the United States, but whether in population or land area I don't know.  I'll just assume that it is in land area.  About 2/3 of the state's territory is mountainous, and in the summer it is inevitable that fires would break out in the wilderness areas, something the residents have come to anticipate.  The state itself is among our western states, but by no means the only one.  I give you all this information because there may be some readers outside the United States who don't know all this.  Unlike some people who I know both online and offline, I don't just assume that you in other countries know about all this.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Lord willing, tomorrow there will be another Daily Thought article for you.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul