Responding to the fires

Every morning I wake up and it’s okay—until, with a dull thud, it comes back to me: image after image of people who died in the fires; rows of army tents with homeless people staying in them; entire communities that have been wiped out; my friend whose parents lost their house; a family known to me who died in their car in their driveway; a 12-year-old girl, badly burned, whose parents and sister died.

How do we respond to a tragedy like this? I’ve been thinking about this ever since I heard the news. How have you responded? Here’s some of the ways I’m trying to respond:

• Grieve. One of the wonderful things about God’s word is that it doesn’t pretend disaster isn’t disaster. It doesn’t supply easy, bandaid answers, as Job’s friends found out. It’s right to grieve. It’s right to lament. It’s right to ask God “Why?” if that’s what’s in your heart (Ps 77, 88, 102). God is big enough for our pain and our questions.
• Express compassion. If I know people who are grieving, I can grieve with them. I can walk with them through their grief. I can “mourn with those who mourn” (Rom 12:15 NIV). If nothing else, at least I can send a card, or say “I’m so sorry”. But true compassion doesn’t stop with words; it reaches out with practical help and generous giving (Jas 2:15-16). Meals, a place to stay, household items, the loan of a car, money—I know people helping in many different ways. How I give depends on what I have and my relationship to those in need.
• Rethink my priorities. When I woke up last Monday, I lay and thought about what it would be like to lose our home—not so much the bricks and mortar, but irreplaceable small treasures like photos, the children’s artwork, precious objects handed down from my parents. One day all this will be taken from me as surely as it has from those who’ve lost their homes. Do I value these things too highly (Matt 6:19-21; Luke 12:13-21)? Our old TV is pretty awful, and we were going to buy a new one. That doesn’t seem so important now.
• Teach my children. Our children have watched the news with us during the last few days so they know what’s been happening. We’ve talked with them about suffering and how to understand it. We’ve encouraged them to be generous with their pocket money. We’ve prayed with them.
• Be prepared to speak (1 Pet 3:14-16). In Melbourne at the moment, every second conversation is about the fire. It’s hard to know how to speak about Jesus in a situation like this because it’s not the time to present a theology of suffering. Perhaps I could speak of Christian friends whose hope for a home in heaven comforts them after losing their home. Perhaps, if my friend asks “Why?”, I could acknowledge my own uncertainty, and how I’ve learned to trust God when I can’t understand because I’ve seen the immensity of his love in the death of his Son. I would love to hear your ideas about what to say.
• Take refuge in Christ. Tragedy is a terrible warning sign of the even more terrible judgement to come (Rev 8-11, Mark 13, Luke 13:1-5). In a bushfire, the only safe place is that which has already been burned by the flames. When God brings his just judgement against our rejection of him, the only safe place is Jesus, who took God’s judgement on himself. May what’s happened drive us and others to Christ.
• Pray.Our church has encouraged us to pray:
  • for comfort and support for those who have lost family and property
  • for the provision of housing and food and schooling to those in need
  • praise and strength for those who continue to fight the fires
  • thanks for the preservation of so many people who escaped
  • that God will bring good from this, including improved procedures for future fires
  • and that all who escaped from the flames will recognize the need to also escape from judgement by reconciling with God in Christ.

I thank God that his word gives us words of lament for times like this—that it gives us the heart and hands to reach out in compassion—that it gives us hope for a home which can’t be destroyed (John 14:1-4) and hope for a day when God will wipe every tear from our eyes (Rev 21:4). I thank God for the fact that those who trust in Jesus know that, whatever and whoever else we lose, we cannot lose him.