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I was a wildlife officer in Creede, Colorado in the mid-1970s. One day my two-way radio crackled, “Respond to a fire at Blue Creek Lodge!”

I headed out.

As I rounded the curve at Wagonwheel Gap, I saw the canyon below already filled with thick black smoke.

Flames and smoke shot into the sky for hundreds of feet as the lodge burned to the ground.

The volunteer firemen had to stand back because the beauty shop supplies, including aerosol cans, exploded like hot ammunition. Containers of cooking oil in the lodge kitchen fueled the hot fire.

Bill and Theresa and their children watched as their home, business, and all their belongings were gone in a matter of minutes.

They literally survived with only the clothes on their backs.

The family had left their home in Kansas, bought an old lodge and lived in it for less than a year. Only a few people knew them.

I only knew them because they came to a home Bible study group at our house.

Faith in times of loss

If you’re a Bible believer and want a lesson in how not to help, here it is:

As we watched the flames, I stood by Bill and assured him: “All things work together for good.” 

With tears rolling down his cheeks he said, “I don’t see anything good in that!” And he pointed to the fire and smoke

My attempt at encouraging him was like going to the scene of a horrific accident and asking a person there who is screaming in pain, “Are ya hurt?”

That was not the time to quote Bible verses.

People who are in terrible pain need someone to compassionately figure out the injuries and try to bring relief.

NOT the time for me to try to wrench someone else’s focus on what I wanted.

We can’t “fix” people, the way I tried to do with Bill.

I learned a better way from others in the community, like the man who drove down from Creede and, not even knowing Bill, said: “When the ashes cool and your insurance is settled, I’ll come down with my loader and dump truck and haul all this to the landfill.”

Because meeting someone where they are in their real circumstances is the true beginning of compassion and ministry.

Since there was no bank in town, the Kentucky Belle Market immediately set up a special fund for people to donate money for the family. And by summer’s end the Creede and South Fork communities gathered around for an old- fashioned barn raising.

But in this case it was a lodge raising.

Two experienced contractors using new blueprints led dozens of volunteers to begin building a whole new lodge. Women from Creede and Southfork set up a long table with the finest mountain cuisine of their favorite delicious recipes to feed the work crews.

Bill watched in amazement as youth leaders from a local Young Life Camp, young men and women, old men, and everybody in between began the process of rebuilding.

I was standing next to Bill when a man came up and asked, “Who are all these people?”

In amazement Bill answered, “I have no idea. I don’t know any of them. They just showed up.”

It took several months to finish that beautiful structure. Most of the work was contributed by volunteers.

Years later I asked Bill, “What is the greatest blessing you’ve ever had?”

His answer: “The day our lodge burned to the ground.”

What I said to Bill the day his lodge burned was true, but my timing was terrible.

St. Paul wrote: “ We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. Those whom God had already chosen he also set apart to become like his Son, so that the Son would be the first among many believers” (Romans 8:28-29 GNT).

People often quote verse 28, but they leave out the rest – that the purpose of God’s kind of “good” is to change us to be like His Son, Jesus Christ.

A prayer for today: “Lord, teach me more about Jesus today, so that I can learn to handle difficulties the way He handled the same kind of troubles. Amen.”

© Glen A. Hinshaw 2018

Reprint with attribution only  https://beckypowers.com/

If you liked this story, you can find more of Glen A. Hinshaw’s stories in his books (Caregiver: My Tempestuous Journey; Echoes from the Mountains; Crusaders for Wildlife; The Adventures of a Rancher)