Fire blew out windows sending those escaping back into the second story apartments. There were several trapped in the center apartment of the horeshoe-shaped complex. Rescue 17 fought their way up the stairwell and dove into the adjacent unit as another fire ball flared up from below. The noise from the natural gas explosions deafened them to an eerie silence. With the balcony impassable, they made their move to penetrate through the wall. Three steps and three out of the four of them disappeared into a fiery chasm. Tom, the last hoseman in the room, hugged the wall like wallpaper, his feet literally inches over the jagged opening. He still had the hose in his hand and without thinking, opened the nozzle to douse the dancing flames below. The back pressure on the nozzle steadied him against the wall as he peered into the opening. He thought for sure he saw four people walking around, and then the smoke obscured his sight to nothing. The horror of it all scared him stiff; he could not move.
Not knowing the fate of the rest of his crew or how he would make it through this, he prayed that God would help move him, for his feet had lost connection to his brain. He could hear the sirens and horns blaring a Code Red evacuation outside the courtyard. Instantly, another explosion collapsed the opposite wall towards him, angling into the gaping hole in the floor its beams. When his eyes adjusted, he saw hazy images of seven people kneeling in the corner. They saw their chance for escape and slid down the joists to the ground floor.
"Hey, the door's open over here! This way!"
"Good job, Tom, on finding that door.", his officer said, slapping him on the back as they made a safe exit.
"You guys are alive!", Tom said, surprised. "I didn't find any door! I was stuck on a ledge up on the second floor and jumped for it when I saw these folks making their way down. I was behind them!"
"Well, when we recovered from the fall, I did a quick head count and saw four of us. Then I thought that was you that split to open that door.", his officer explained. "But then who called us over to the door, if it wasn't you?"
"I'm pretty sure we got some divine help on this one, cap.", Tom smiled.
Matthew 14: 22-31 tells:
"Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
"Lord, if it's you, " Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
"Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
When God lays a mission or project in front of us, we usually start off "gung-ho", excited for this fresh, new purpose. Then the clouds come in, it rains, and the winds blow: we get discouraged and lose focus on our direction. Jesus reminds us that He is the one that gave us this project in the first place. With that in mind, He wants us to cross from fear to courage on the bridge of faith, and press on towards the goal of completing His task. This is how we can lean on faith to get us through the storms: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (I John 4: 18) God is this "perfect love".
When we are living in commitment to fulfilling God's purpose, there should be no anxiety as to our position with Christ. Knowing His love for us and His desire to spend eternity with us, we find "every opportunity to fear is an opportunity to trust God". (Morley) This is part of God's perfect plan to develop and strengthen our faith in a building process that culminates in a very personal union with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To God be the glory.
