Throughout California and Oregon forest fires are burning out of control in this brutal August heat. To give you some perspective, the U.S. Forest service is spending $100 million a week to fight the fires!
Yet - as these fires rage, something is quietly going on to prepare their very renewal. You see, there’s an unusual species of Evergreen called the Lodgepole Pine that grows in great numbers throughout the Northwest. A fascinating aspect of this Pine is the uniqueness of its cones. Lodgepole Pine cones may stay on the tree for years before they fall off - and, even when they do fall, they will not open to release their seed...until they are in the presence of intense heat!
Remarkable! God, having designed nature, even in its fallen condition which includes devastating forest fires, has providentially prepared for their renewal by designing a Pine tree whose reproduction requires the agent of its own destruction...fire! So, even as trees, wildlife, and all living things are being destroyed in a forest blaze, the seeds of renewal are also being released for the "resurrection" of forest life...because, of course, since their seeds are actually released by the fire, the Lodgestone Pines are the first to grow in an area that's been burned!
In each of our own lives, there are areas that need to be, or are already being burned up -- consumed by the "Refining Fire" of God's Holy Spirit. Yet God has also provided for a renewal in us...a "seed" of something brand new, which can only come about by intense heat. This new seed, represents the resurrection life of Christ, which emerges in the presence of His purifying fire. So the Lodgepole Pine is a picture for us, of resurrection and hope in the midst of fiery trials. So let's welcome the fire in our lives, allowing Him to consume everything in us which does not glorify Him.