A Summer of Flames
This month has seen a lot of horrors. Bushfires ravaging the land, towns, homes, livelihoods and too many lives. Smoke descending like gloom over cities in a way we have never experienced before. The ripple effects to unaffected parts on the other side of the country causing financial difficulties. The feeling that the fires will never stop. Storms and floods causing destruction but not relieving the devastating drought of the past few years. While this goes on I have had some friends face terrible medical news. Broken health. Hospital admissions.
What a broken world we live in! How we went from the most live-able city in the world to worst air quality in the world. It shows how fleeting things are. It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we make our own destiny. But little do we realise how much grace holds up our lives.
The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,Psalm 103:15,16
How much do we achieve because we were blessed with good health?
How much do we own and how much freedom do we flex because we happen to be in a country that has a stable government?
How much do we enjoy our good things in our lives because of the abundance from the land?
What did we do to deserve any of those blessings? Did we even see them as blessings?
I now see a clear blue sky with greater appreciation. I now see the long soaking rain with greater awe and thankfulness. I eat my toast – thinking of those who have to wait for supplies to be carried in by the Defence Force but are still unable to power a toaster. I flick seamlessly between looking up some fun fact on Google to streaming Netflix shows remembering those who can’t raise a signal because of fires affecting the NBN. I see my home (despite all its flaws and needed renovations) as a treasured gift. I am grateful that my husband came home to me when so many are worried about their family fighting fires. My family is safe, healthy, well.
How did I get to be so blessed? How did I not see it all this time?
Let us remember… and be thankful.
God’s love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children as they follow his Covenant ways and remember to do whatever he said.Psalm 103:17,18
