The news this month has, in the main, been and still is, about the utter sadness, horror and devastation caused by huge fires during this Summer so far – and we are still only in July! Why? we ask, what causes these wildfires to flare up in the first place?
We all know the expression “there is no smoke without fire” meaning that something is clearly up, and something worse is coming. We all know about “cause & effect” and we also hear that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”
For example: The plants died because they didn´t get enough sunlight or water. I didn´t call you because my phone had no charge. The alarm didn´t go off so she was late for work. These are all understandable. Clearly. But… if the plants were watered and in a good position they wouldn´t die. If the alarm was set properly and checked, it would go off. If the phone had been recharged, or charger had been brought, it wouldn´t have run out of battery power. Cause & effect. Actions and reactions.
What causes fires? The careless tossing of a cigarette thought stubbed out but unchecked. Fire from a BBQ perhaps, doused undoubtedly when finished with, but again unchecked. A piece of plastic left behind by someone who didn´t pick up their litter. A mirror maybe, broken and left somewhere. Plastic casually dropped in a seemingly benign place but scattered by the wind and ending up caught in a thicket of driftwood somewhere.
It´s all so easy to see how things happen but the cause – somewhere along the line – was someone not checking, thinking or caring… Generally, no deliberate malice intended whatsoever, but cause and effect remains what it is. And then at some point, there are consequences.
On a global scale, we have Global Warming, we have been warned and warned it would happen, and now it has and we are living with the consequences. On a Biblical scale, equally global and throughout the centuries, we have been warned and warned that sin has its consequences, we look at other people´s sin and don´t perhaps pay too much attention to our own. At the very beginning Satan planted doubt and Eve immediately blamed Adam and that has been a pattern repeated throughout history. “Did he/she say or do that? Well, if they did I´m going to…”
Sin is insidious at first, like smoke, then it grows and in some areas is out of control. Most of the world´s problems are caused by power & greed and fuelled by blame. Somebody wanting what they don´t have and thinking they can just take it…be it little things, like taking money from your mum or nan´s purse or great national and international issues like taking someone else´s country or resources… forcing what they want onto someone weaker: rape, incest, slavery…
How God still has patience with us, I do not know but I´m so glad that He does! He even sent His Son Jesus, to come and not just show us how to live good lives, but to be a role model for soul- healthy living, and also to be that ultimate sacrifice of our sin: the sacrificial lamb, the only blameless, sinless person who could atone for the sins of mankind. Did they listen then? Some didn´t and they killed Him. But He rose again as promised, and the Christian church was born. Are we listening now?
If Jesus came back tomorrow or next month – are we ready? Are you ready? Will you be happy to see Him? When He comes back, not as a helpless baby this time, but as King of kings and Lord of lords – will He take you with Him? Or will you get left behind? Please consider this life important question.
Lord, we pray for all of those innocents who have died, for all who have lost loved ones in these dreadful fires, for families left without homes, for the animals caught up in it all. It is so hard to imagine yet we see it all over the news. We pray for the safety, strength and abilities of the firefighters and all emergency services during this tinderbox Summer we are experiencing. Amen.
Stay safe, keep hydrated, check on elderly neighbours who might not be drinking enough water nor eating enough cos it´s too hot!
Paster Phil at Cornerstone. Calle Escultor Riber Girona, Pilar de la Horadada. See pilarchurch.com
