I wasn’t hardly home for more than 10 minutes last night. I got in the door, took off my shoes, changed my clothes, and had just started to cook supper. I had a pork chop marinating all day and I was looking forward to eating a nice meal. I should have known better!
I had just started working on the pork chop and was preparing the vegetables when my pager went off. A corn field on fire. Really? The first thing I thought to myself was, who the heck even has a corn field in April? The second thing I thought was, what the crap are they doing burning it on a Friday night? Regardless… so much for my nice meal!
As we pulled up on the scene, sure enough, there was a corn field and it was most certainly on fire! In fact, it was a pretty large corn field and, courtesy of a gusty evening breeze, it was burning pretty good.
There was no way we were going to get our trucks to it. We also determined that if we all lined up (all guys) and simultaneously, well, use your imagination… that wasn’t going to work either. So that left us to fight it the old fashioned way… with brooms. We all grabbed our brooms and started trekking out into the field.
The fire was hot, and the smoke was thick. A wind blowing from the northwest wasn’t helping. It was fanning the flames, pushing the fire, and blowing the smoke. It tasted awful!
We were working hard to try and contain the fire, but it was spreading on us fast because of the wind. In a matter of just a few minutes, the fire line moved a good 20ft further south. The fact that it was burning so hot didn’t help. You could only stand the heat for a minute or two before you had to step out.
As I was standing there, soaked to the core from sweat, my eyes stinging from the smoke, I couldn’t help but reflect back on the some of the events that have taken place in my life in the last little while. Certain areas of my life felt a lot like this fire. Out of my control.
If it weren’t for the wind, we could’ve contained that fire and got it out a lot faster. But it made me think about how sometimes things are just beyond our control. Circumstances we have no say in. Events we can do nothing about. Sometimes, whether we like it or not, we really are just along for the ride.
Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.
The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-27
Whether it’s a boat at sea being tossed by a storm, a corn field burning out of control because of the wind, or circumstances in our life that maybe didn’t play out quite like we thought, it all comes back to one simple thing. We’ve got to have faith.
I love the movie Field Of Dreams. It’s the perfect blend of drama, suspense, mystery, and baseball! Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) finds his father in a corn field. As I stood in that field last night, I found my Father too. He reminded me that I just needed to have faith, and trust that He’s got things under control.
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