Alva Review-Courier -

I was sure what I was going write about this week. I mean what else could I write about besides the fires? That was until Sunday school when I realized the two topics are more intertwined then one might think.

Tuesday, hell was unleashed again on this part of the country. Fires sprang up north of Gate first and then south of Gate and fueled by massive fuel loads and winds of 50-60 miles an hour, the wildfire moved at a rapid speed east and then when the wind changed to the north, it moved rapidly south.

This fire and the ones in the Texas Panhandle have now consumed over 1,000,000 acres, countless miles of fence, hundreds if not thousands of head of livestock and numerous homes are gone. Burnt up in no time and the remnants of farms and ranches are scattered all over the country.

The fire and its aftermath are horrible. We drove out west of Laverne on Wednesday and the landscape was eerily reminiscent of the fires in 2017. Nothing left but bare terrain and burned cattle lying where they fell.

The victims need our help. Some lost everything. I’m afraid some won’t be able to come back, yet what I want everyone to get from my words tonight is the faith that farmers and ranchers have.

I’m not saying every farmer and rancher has a deep faith rooted in Jesus Christ. I’m saying that farmers and ranchers continually put one foot in front of the other and whether they know it or not, that is, at the least, faith in something bigger than themselves, and Lord are they a tough group.

Their souls are lined with walls of titanium because that is how God made them. You can’t be anything else and survive in this industry. They always will find a way to comfort their own and be there for their neighbor in their time of need. I’m proud to be a little speck in this fine group of men and women who feed the world.

Last Sunday in Sunday school we studied about Abraham taking Isaac up to Mount Moriah and knowing that when they ascended up to the top that they both would come home. I can only wish I had a faith rooted so deep. I know where I am headed when God calls me home, yet my foundation of faith is nowhere near as strong as Abraham’s.

Abraham was blessed by God, because of his faith. In somewhat the same way, these farmers and ranchers are being blessed as well. We wouldn’t expect anything different.

Feed is rolling in. Truckloads of hay are headed that way. Fencing supplies are headed the right direction.

It is hard to see tomorrow when you can’t see how you are going to make it through today. I pray the victims can find a peace and a faith in our Lord that transcends all understanding, a lot like Abraham’s faith was tested when God told him to go to Mount Moriah with his son Isaac.

Satan works overtime when he can inch his way into your head. Everyday our faith is tested – our faith in our God, our faith in people, our faith in ourselves. When blessings are showered upon you from friends and neighbors and people that you haven’t even met, it all originates from the man upstairs. All blessings drip from the hands of God.

Deuteronomy 31:6 reads, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is your Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

What could be more comforting in your time of need?

Talk to you next week.