When You've Been Burned

Can you live again after being burned?

"...the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity..."   photo credit: www.libelium.com

All of us feel the flames of an unbridled tongue at one time or another.  Everything seems to be going fine, and then suddenly there are sparks, a flame, and before we know it, the fire is completely out of control.  Unable to halt its incendiary advances, we fall victim to its singeing cataclysm.

And it hurts.  Bad.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue..."  photo credit: www.photobucket.com

With ashes all around and smoke still seeping, we look around to see if there's anything left of our former selves.  We've been burned beyond recognition, but is there anything left to salvage? 

No.  Nothing.  Life as we knew it is over, and we will never be the same again.

Time passes.  The kindly winds blow, and the gentle rains fall.  The dead earth feels nothing.  Still, the showers continue, and the sun plays its part, beaming softly on our scorched ground.

photo credit:  http://www.mccullagh.org

We don't know when it happens, but it does happen.  A tender shoot, a small blade, appears, pushing its way bravely through the ashes.  Defying all the odds, and even perhaps to our own surprise, it continues to surge upward, reaching for the gentle rain and the kindly sun.  The wind plays with our soft , light green sprigs and strengthens them, helping us to grow even more. 

There is life, even after such an awful death.

Will it be the same again?  No, never.  But slowly we heal, and we learn that we may not ever be the same, but because our Creator allowed this horrific burning, we can be better.  The whole area is clearer and nutrients are everywhere.  Yes, life can be better now.

As long as we keep reaching for the rain of the Word, the warm and inviting Son, and the gentle breeze of the Spirit, there will be life, even after we've been burned.