Through the fire

Adele Nash

I found the weeks following February 7-"Black Saturday"-to be very trying for my faith. The prayers of so many people who have repeatedly asked God for rain to put out Victoria's bushfires have seemed unanswered for so long, more than 200 people are dead, close to 2000 houses have been destroyed and I'm struggling to understand where God fits into all of this.

No, don't worry-I'm not about to announce I've become an atheist and run off to party with those celebrating the 200th year since the birth of Charles Darwin while buying every single book by Richard Dawkins. I'm just saying it's been tough to try to understand, let alone find answers.

Disasters of this magnitude can be much easier to deal with when they're not on your doorstep-when they don't affect people you know. Friends of mine have lost friends in the fires in Kinglake and St Andrews, and the fires have come too close to Warburton. Life has become like an even less humorous version of Groundhog Day as I've implemented my "bushfire survival plan" numerous times-meaning, leaving town, as trying to stay to protect my home from the fires would be defending the indefensible.

The Bible is full of promises, miraculous escapes and interventions by God, and perhaps it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking God will answer our problems in the way we want them to be answered. When He doesn't, it can be hard. But living a godly life doesn't act as a magic amulet that will protect us from everything bad. Many good Christians died, and lost loved ones and property in the fires.

Life is full of trouble and suffering, which is something many people throughout the centuries have noted. This includes Job in the Bible, and he'd definitely know about it.

For Job, everything went bad within the space of a single chapter. He goes from having a large, happy family and an impressive array of possessions and more livestock than you could poke a stick at, to losing it all to a lot of smiting. And then there are the boils, sackcloth and ashes.

In Job 30:15, he says, "Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud" (NIV). In verse 26, Job continues, "Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness." However, he refuses to blame or curse God for what's happening in his life. Instead, Job expresses a desire to reason with God.

After a lot of questions, God answers Job out of the whirlwind. With a question. So it seems like there are just more questions when it comes to suffering, at least in this life. But we can have some assurance that it won't go on forever.

In addition, I believe God understands our suffering and He suffers with us. In fact, He's suffered with every person who has lived on earth, particularly His own Son. In Isaiah 43, God promises that when we walk through the fire, He'll be there with us. It doesn't say He'll put out the fire or that our homes won't be destroyed but at least there's ssurance that He understands our pain and won't abandon us.

And I think we should thank those who have acted as God's hands in this time. Thousands of volunteers have given their time to fight the fires, protecting lives and properties. The work done by those in the Country Fire Authority, Department of Sustainability and Environment, State Emergency Service and many others has been tireless. Stories have emerged of immense bravery and kindness, including the policemen who organised people in Marysville to get to the town's oval, thus saving their lives. Then there's the immense generosity of the Australian public, donating millions of dollars.

Perhaps we can use the words of Deitrich Bonhoeffer: "Oh God be gracious unto me and help me. Grant me strength to bear what you send and let not fear rule over me. As a loving father, take care of my loved ones. Oh merciful God, forgive me all the sins I have committed against you and against my fellow man. I trust in your grace and commit my life wholly into your hands. So do with me as seems best to you and is best for me."

This has been an editorial from Record, March 28, 2009