Another in the Fire
“Someone set fire to the church.”
My heart dropped. What? What did you just say?
On Monday night, Luke and I attended leadership training at our church. It was the first time I’d entered the building since pre-COVID. Wearing our masks and sitting 6 feet apart from everyone else, we entered the sanctuary and sat in designated pews marked by tape to ensure social distancing.
During leadership training, we were encouraged to share Jesus’ love with our actions, words, and deeds.
The training ended and we left the sanctuary by 8:30 p.m.
And by midnight, someone broke in and set fire to it.
I woke Tuesday morning to the news that the sanctuary was destroyed. That same sanctuary I had entered just hours before. Destroyed because of an arsonist.
The church where I grew up, met Luke, got married, and worship every week.
The church where we planned to gather just a week from now for the first in-person, socially-distanced church service since March.
It doesn’t seem real. It doesn’t seem possible.
But, I am reminded by this truth: The Church is not a building. The Church is wherever two or more are gathered to worship Jesus.
This Thursday evening (last night), is even more proof of that. The Church gathered together (socially-distanced) around the outside of the church building. And we prayed.
To be united in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy and pray together is a whole new level of goosebumps.
We prayed for the future of our church, for the man who set the fire, and for us to always show Jesus’ love through our words, actions, and deeds.
The Church came together to focus on nothing but Jesus.
Nothing but Jesus heals and restores what's broken. Nothing but Jesus can fix what’s so painfully destroyed.
This entire year, there have been many quotes and Bible verses that have encouraged me to keep my eyes fixed on Him.
One quote is by John Piper:
“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”
I don’t know what God has in store now that the sanctuary is burnt. I don’t know why it happened.
But, I don’t need to know.
God knows.
And that’s really all that matters.
Because what seems like a surprise to us is never a surprise to Him. What seems like a change in plan is never a “plot twist” to Him.
This year, a lot of things have happened that I can’t explain or understand.
But that doesn’t mean God is also surprised by it.
Although I am incredibly sad, I am thankful for that one last look at the sanctuary as it was.
Although my heart breaks, I am thankful that the Church came together to pray.
Although I do not understand, I am thankful I serve the God who orchestrates everything in His perfect timing.
And although I can’t always see or understand what He’s doing, I am thankful there’s Another in the fire who is faithful, sovereign, and never surprised by anything.
“There was another in the fire
Standing next to me
There was another in the waters
Holding back the seas
And should I ever need reminding
Of how I’ve been set free
There is a cross that bears the burden
Where another died for me”