The temporary is burned away to leave behind what matters

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I remember, some years ago now, leaving church on what felt like a normal day. As I got closer to my house, I noticed smoke rising from a nearby neighborhood. I can’t fully explain why, but something in me decided to follow that pillar of smoke instead of heading straight home.

As I drew nearer, I realized a house was completely engulfed in flames. The fire department had already arrived, and just like me, people from the neighborhood and surrounding streets had gathered to watch.

What stood out most wasn’t the fire itself, but the family who lived there. They were sitting in the yard across the street, close enough for me to see their faces and feel the weight of the moment. While everyone else watched the flames, they watched their entire life burn; every possession, every keepsake, every memory collected over the years. The firefighters worked relentlessly, but the fire had already taken control.

Looking back now, I see that moment differently than I did then. I believe that fire was a refining moment in the lives of that family. I can’t say with absolute certainty what happened afterward, but it’s almost impossible to imagine an event like that not changing someone forever.

What strikes me most, even years later, is how that family responded. They were hugging one another, holding tightly, loving deeply. In that moment, when everything else was gone, all they truly had left was each other.

That memory brings to mind the Word of God that speaks about how one day all the work of our lives will be tested by fire. Everything that is temporary will be burned away, and only what truly matters will remain. Scripture also reminds us that fire is often the tool God uses to refine us, not to destroy us, but to purify, strengthen, and reshape us.

So, when we find ourselves walking through the fire, let us not waste it. Let us allow it to refine us, draw us closer to what truly matters, and make us stronger than we were before.