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I used to live where the fires recently blazed in Colorado; the largest fire destruction in Colorado’s history. Experts say it will take months to put it out. In the early 80s my husband and I built a home backing on Roosevelt National Forest in Bellvue, Colorado. Our road – Stove Prairie Road – was, earlier this summer, a part of the national news. We sold our former home in 1991 to a famous artist couple from Chicago, of all places. They sold it once more near the turn of this century.

A woman who lost her life in the fire had lived down the road from us. Visitors would have to go through three gates to reach her property. The newspaper said two robo-calls went unanswered. Her husband was out working on the ranch when he saw a fireball racing towards their cabin. It engulfed the cabin in flames before he could reach her. As a rescuer reached her gate, he was literally “pushed back” by the flames. Only Jesus can help us go through such horror. And, wonderfully, it appears the woman may have known Jesus as her Lord and Savior. I just found out that four years before I moved there, Stonecroft Bible Studies were going on near Stove Prairie Road back in the wilderness called Paradise Park where she lived. She attended. God loves us so much He wants to reach us – even in the wilderness.

I have never lived anyplace before or since where I felt a greater sense of community. Our neighbors were a billionaire (complete with a temperature controlled garage for his Bentley and other cars), a cowboy, farmers, a forensic scientist, a man who collected shed snake skins and lined cabinet furniture with them, a university professor, an airline pilot, a hoarder, a businessman, and people who lived off the land. People there didn’t care about what you did for a living, your education, finances, or status in life. As soon as you moved there you were included because it took a special person to want to live 7.5 miles down a gravel road – once you got to that gravel road. My husband and I rarely got in much exercise when we walked Stove Prairie Road because neighbor after neighbor would stop their vehicle in the middle of the road to talk a bit and catch up. The road was finally paved several years ago.

I realize a house and acreage are just material things. But it is sad to think about the lives this will affect. My prayer is that everyone affected by the fire will see Jesus and find hope in Him!

I learned from a forest ranger on a whitewater rafting trip down the Snake River in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that fire burns up the old wood and puts nutrients in the soil. We all know that. But I did not know that it takes the extreme heat of fire to burst open some pinecones and pods so seeds can take root. With the soil now open to sunshine and rain, seeds can grow. A year from now abundant life will be visible.

I’m sure you can see spiritual applications to this in your own life. We’ve all been through the purification of trials. Jesus brings new life from death. We must hold fast to our hope that something beautiful is going to come out of what we are going through because God keeps His promises and He is faithful.

This reminds me of 1Peter 1:7: These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Can you believe we are going to get much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world? God is so good – all the time, even through the fire.