Wednesday, September 18, 2002
My wife rang me on my cell phone with an urgent message to get back across town to our daughter and son-in-law's house. "They've got a fire!" she said. As I approached their house, I could see a grass fire burning in the field near their house and rapidly approaching their house. A neighbor's trash fire had suddenly gotten out of hand and had spread rapidly. The firefighters arrived just before I did and thankfully they quickly got it under control. We were really thankful that our kids had been home and had seen the fire or it might have even burned their house. They were told that the fire did not mean there would be a blackened field in front of their house - there would, in fact, be beautiful grass growing there pretty soon, rooted in soil that would actually be enhanced by the fire. And, sure enough, there's a rich field of green today.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Burned Grass, Beautiful Grass."
It's one of those "strange ways of God." The fire that burns also produces beauty later on. If you're going through the fire right now, that's something you probably need to know right now. Because at the moment, you can only see the burning - you can't see the beauty. You will.
There is no more amazing life story in the Old Testament than that of Joseph. God's ultimate plan is for Joseph to become the second most powerful man on earth, the assistant Pharaoh of Egypt, the greatest nation on earth at that time. But how will a Jewish boy ever become the #2 man in Egypt? Through the fire. He is betrayed and beaten by his jealous brothers, he's sold into slavery - which gets him to Egypt. He is bought by one of Pharaoh's top military leaders - which gets him in contact with Egyptian royalty. He's thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit - so he can do a favor for a servant of Pharaoh - whose intervention will ultimately bring Joseph before Pharaoh.
Betrayal, beating, rejection, injustice, imprisonment - that's a lot of fire. But it was that very fire that produced an amazingly beautiful outcome - God's man, Joseph, in a world class position where he can save many lives from a famine - including the lives of his own family. So, in Genesis 50:20, our word for today from the Word of God, Prince Joseph says to the brothers who betrayed him, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Earlier, Joseph explained to them the divine plan that was being accomplished, even through their sin. He said, "It was no you who sent me here, but God." (Genesis 45:5)
What is happening to you right now has first had to pass through your Father's hands - the Father who promised He "will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." (1 Corinthians 10:13) And He will bring something beautiful out of what seems so ugly right now. He'll use the fire to bond you closer to your loved ones, to take away one thing so He can replace it or return it with something much better, to put you in a position where you can "save lives" by sharing Christ. They'll listen to you now because of what you're going through. He wants you to experience His love and His power and His nearness as only those in the fire ever get to experience.
The fire that burns will ultimately produce something amazingly beautiful - if you'll stay close to Him as you walk through the fire.