FIERY BLESSINGS

​“Rains come, fire lay down and winds be still, in Jesus’s name.”
 
That’s how i ended up praying last night about a northern Nevada wildfire, which sent thousands fleeing and a bevy of aircraft scurrying with water and fire retardant.  Dark billows of smoke from the fire captured our attention within minutes after it ignited, because it was just a mile upwind from the Red Stable Ranch, where our son David had been raising chickens.  Praise God, he’d harvested his last chicken ten days earlier and was nowhere near the blaze when it erupted.  And praise God all the more that Washoe City, a dusty collection of a hundred or so ranchettes in the direct path of the fire, has so far been spared!
 
i say “so far,” because the battle is far from over.  Yesterday after the freeway through the area was reopened, David saw two-hundred-foot high flames lapping at the trees and brush covering the hillside above the town.  Although at least one plane was attacking that blaze, the rest of the area seemed curiously devoid of firefighters or equipment.  Most of them were working other flanks of the fire, we concluded, which are threatening several upper-scale subdivisions on the southern outskirts of Reno.  That seemed to leave Washoe City largely unprotected, and vulnerable to a slight shift in the heavy winds that could blast hot embers across the freeway and into the tinder-dry brush scattered among its homes. 
 
Indeed, shortly after the residents were evacuated, the fire surrounded the neighborhood on three sides.  Yet many folks had prayed, and firefighters had successfully fought off a major incursion into the area that destroyed a church, a commercial building and a couple of homes.  The fire headed in other directions, the little shed where David had been brooding his chickens wasn’t touched, and virtually all the other homes and outbuildings in Washoe City were spared.
 
When i first began to grasp the miracle that was unfolding, i thanked God for faithfully answering our prayers.  Then He led me to pray for the many other places which are still in harm’s way and also needed His intervention.  But i kept getting hung up over the direction of the winds.  If the wildfire was diverted away from Washoe City, which way would it go?  There were many homes in every direction, so “not in my backyard” didn’t seem to reflect God’s heart.   The fire needed to be squelched, not just avoided.  And i needed more faith to believe for that.
 
So God reminded me of a similar situation that had arisen four years ago, when the Creek Fire had been devouring the southern woods of Yosemite.  A friend and i had summoned rain and favorable winds to overcome the fire and smoke, like Elijah had done to overcome a famine and drought, and the change in weather had been almost immediate.  A light rain had arisen and that moisture, accompanied by a fresh breeze, had cleared the air.  The air quality index in one of the communities downwind of the fire had dropped from over 600 to 28.  The expected wind-whipped expansion of the fire failed to materialize, due to the moisture, which wasn’t in the forecast.  The way God had moved had boggled my mind, yet it had escaped the attention of most folks.  They weren’t looking for a miracle, so they missed it when it arrived.
 
A year later when the Caldor Fire was banging on the doorsteps of Tahoe, virtually everyone knew we needed a miracle, and God didn’t disappoint.  Strong winds whipped the main body of the fire into such an inferno that flames shot hundreds of feet into the sky.  Despite the valiant efforts of thousands of firefighters, dozens of aircraft and hundreds of pieces of equipment, nothing seemed able to stop it or even slow its rapid march toward Echo Summit, where it was destroying virtually everything in its path.
 
Some knowledgeable observers thought the geography of the summit might present a natural barrier to the fire’s progress, because on its east side is a granite cliff without much to burn.  But by the time it reached the cliff, the fire had gained so much momentum it was spewing baseball-sized embers two miles or more ahead of its front line.  So it simply jumped the cliff and ignited dozens of spot fires in the valley far below, and up the other side of the forest opposite the cliff.
 
In that valley were a hundred or more homes scattered among the trees, and a commercial corridor which serves as the southern gateway to Lake Tahoe.  So when the fire neared the top of the cliff, the entire City of South Lake Tahoe was evacuated.  It was a wise move, because the fire soon entered the southern limits of the city and tore up the forested hillsides near homes situated furthest from the lake.  But just as it began to look like much of the city’s commercial and residential area might be toast, the fierce winds that had caused the leading edge of the fire to act like an out-of-control blowtorch suddenly died.
 
Seizing that moment to stage a valiant defensive stand, firefighters managed to extinguish every single spot fire that had ignited near any home or business in the valley.  As a result, no homes were lost and only a few structures sustained minor damage.  The northern-most flank of the fire, which until then seemed poised to invade Heavenly Ski Resort and the Carson Valley, also lost steam and began to wither, as the winds remained calm for the better part of a week.  Though thick smoke continued to blanket much of the Reno-Tahoe region, it was spared a major natural disaster.
 
To me, it seemed like a miracle, and a direct answer to the prayers of hundreds of people who were no doubt pleading with God to have mercy on our region.  So for many days i praised God for His kindness, His faithfulness, and His sovereignty over a fire that had raged beyond human control.  Yet when the Tahoe Tribune triumphantly reported the good news the following week, its leading front-page story was headlined, “It was no miracle.”
 
That really upset me, but God told me to cool my jets.  He was perfectly content letting those who didn’t know any better think that He had played no part in rescuing the community.  But for some of us who had pleaded for Him to intervene, He was more than pleased to reveal His hand.
 
A couple weeks later when a buddy and i were talking about that fire, he told me about a rancher friend of his whose family had own property in that valley since 1857.  Sitting directly below Echo Summit, it was in the main path of the fire.  Although most of the ranch buildings were made of wood, when evacuation orders were issued his friend refused to leave.  And when glowing hot embers began pelleting his ranch, he stood in the barnyard and declared God’s protection.
 
As He sang It Is Well, declaring waves and wind still knew Jesus’s name, that rancher saw big red fireballs careening directly toward him be suddenly deflected, and land instead in the woods on the far side of the valley.  It was then that he knew for certain that God was faithfully at work, saving countless homes and lives.  Although hillsides on both sides of the ranch were torched, his ranch and all of its neighbors down in the valley were miraculously spared.
 
That story had greatly encouraged me back then, because at various times when i had been praying for Tahoe, God had also brought that same song to mind, and led me to declare that Jesus was Lord of the winds and sovereign over every aspect of that fire.  And so once again today that song, and another our church had sung on Sunday which says, “Rain came, winds blew, but my heart depends on You,” stirred me to pray for the current fire with renewed faith.
 
God doesn’t want us to content ourselves with a mere change in weather or the extinguishing of a fire, no matter how big such a miracle may prove to be.  God wants to set our heart aflame for Him!   He is faithful and kind, and so sovereign over everything that threatens us that He wants us to trust in His protection.  So i’m praying today that many hearts would be opened to believe that He is once again actively working in our midst, turning tragedy into blessing, as only He can do.
 
For if we believe, Jesus said that we would see the glory of God.