About 3 months ago, I walked out on our back deck and saw a huge fire coming down the mountainside towards our house. I was absolutely stunned. And panicked.
I ran around the house and grabbed some essentials in less than 30 minutes. While I packed them into the car, choking smoke filled our garage. A mammoth cloud of black smoke had suddenly descended on our neighborhood. When I tried to drive out to safety, our whole neighborhood was in a massive traffic jam as everyone tried to flee.
The smoke made it harder to breathe, and harder to see. My adrenaline was pumping and I was terrified. During those frantic moments, I thought, "This may be what the end of the world will look like." The mass of smoke had blocked the sun and turned it an eerie dark orange.
A little later I thought, "Life is short." Everything can be gone in an instant.
Thankfully, our house is okay. Going through all of this was emotionally and physically exhausting for several weeks. I had done a voluntary evacuation as well, before the fire crested the mountain and I had to flee. After that, I had another 4 days of mandatory evacuation. During all of this, my husband was also out of the country on a missions trip.
The ordeal made me reflect on "What am I living for?" Life is short. James 4:14 says, "You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."
What are you living for? Are you living like you will truly give an account to God one day? Are you living for the things that matter to Him and for His Kingdom? Only 3 things are eternal and will last forever - God, His Word, and people.
