Patriarchs: Fires that Burn for Good

 

As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. Genesis 50:20

 Black smoke fills the skyline. The civilian population has been evacuated for miles around, but there are so many people on the ground still actively coordinating and fighting the fire that rages just over the ridge. The first responders fought valiantly to contain the blaze, but it was quickly determined that this was a much bigger situation than they could handle alone. In addition to local suppression, the Fire Manager called for hot shot teams to infiltrate the forest to the site of the fire. If things continue, he may need to request smoke jumpers, helitack crews that rappel out of helicopters to a fire, or skydiving firefighters. The scene is intense, the danger is real, but surprisingly, after the initial response, the decision is made to let the fire burn!

 Forest fires have become a common part of our year in the Pacific Northwest. We even have a “fire season” now. This can range from a tinge of smoky scent in the air to fog-like smoke sitting in our neighborhoods making it toxic to breathe outdoors. What caused such a change? It wasn’t like this when I was a child. There are a lot of different theories on that, but one thing foresters have found to be certain, we need small fires to prevent large ones. According to the National Park Service, “More than 50 years of fire ecology have taught fire managers that suppressing all fires results in unnatural fuel buildup and only delays the inevitable, and can make fires more severe than they otherwise would have been.”  It turns out that many of the plant and animal communities present in our forests are actually dependent on a natural cycle of fire to exist. How do fires help the forest? They facilitate nutrient recycling, clearing out dead organic material that could cause worse fires and prevent new growth. They also can create habitats as some plant species, such as the Jack Pine and Giant Sequoia, require fire to release their seeds. Fire helps the ecosystem resilience by killing harmful insects and pathogens and it enhances biodiversity through the creation of a variety of different habitats. What people for years saw as bad, evil and dangerous it turns out was designed by God for a purpose, for good. For more than 50 years, at the beginning of the 20th century, fire management was seen as suppressing wildfires, but now they actually allow many of them to burn or even set them on purpose in a controlled fashion.

 Our verse today is a quote from Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery, lied about by his boss’ wife and tossed into jail, forgotten by those he aided and left to rot, before finally being installed as second in command of the entire nation of Egypt and entrusted with the survival of the country through an upcoming famine. Joseph’s life seemingly went up in flames multiple times. It looked like everything was going wrong when, in fact, God was setting things up to help Joseph be exactly the man he needed to be, where he needed to be it, when he needed to be it. The fires in Joseph’s life burned out the undergrowth, eliminating anything that would hinder what needed to develop and could cause future damage. They fostered new skills and abilities in Joseph that he would need later in managing the country and its resources. It also removed unhealthy influences, like Potiphar’s wife and others we don’t know about, so that Joseph wouldn’t be sabotaged by sin. When you read Joseph’s story, you may be aghast at all his misfortune, but what we see as awful things that happened to him, God used to grow and develop him and position Joseph perfectly to further God’s plan for the good of Egypt and the furthering of His people, the Israelites.

Here's the Thing: We see the world through such a limited lens, but God can see the end from the beginning and He puts it all together perfectly!