In Idaho, wildfires can threaten our beautiful forests.Teams of Forestry personnel risk their lives every year to protect our forests from ruination. Interestingly enough, they’ve learned throughout the years that a certain amount of fire is required in the forest to maintain them. If the undergrowth gets to mature, it becomes additional fuel so that when lightening does strike, it makes the fire more severe.
The Forest Service does prescribed burns to eliminate the undergrowth during the wet season which allows for a fire without causing a large amount of destruction.
Another reason for the prescribed burns are that some pine trees (fired climax pines) require the fire to open the cones and release the seeds into the ground. Without the heat, new pine trees cannot be seeded and grow.
Our Lord has told us that with faith the size if a mustard seed, we would be able to move mountains. Matthew 17:20-21 NIV
But how does our faith grow? Paul wrote to the Thessalonians their faith is growing and that he was pleased that they persevered and had faith in all of their persecutions.
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 2 Thessalonians 1:2-4 NIV
As I see friends and family experience financial problems, health issues, emotional pain & loss, I find myself asking, “Why Lord?” Could it be that like the seeds of the pine cone, through our trials seeds of faith are released into our hearts to grow and help us persevere in our race for the Lord?
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7
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