"Facing The Fire" -2

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." (Psalm 23:6) I am thinking that part of the problem might be in the point we are missing in following the Lord. If we could only see how every detail of our life was going to work out, then maybe we could step out on our own and take the helm; but we cannot know what tomorrow may bring us; however, we do know what waits in the hereafter! That is the key to the boldness needed to face the fire; that no matter what the outcome of any situation here on this earth may be, the end result shall be the same for us who are His children. However, the end result may not be the same for those who might be involved in or watching our ordeal. In fact, their fate may rest in the response that we have within our trial!!! Let's look at the verse above for something that might be right out in the open, for all to see: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me" is quoted and read all the time, but what does it really mean? Well, we know what goodness and mercy mean, but the word follow, that is the part that needs some explaining; because the fire that we may be facing will not display the characters of goodness and mercy, but we must know and trust that goodness and mercy shall follow us through the fire. And not only for us, but for others in the wake of the fire; those that may not even be connected to us or our trial, but may have something happen in or to their life as a result of knowing someone who is. This is bigger than you and I, and the sooner that we realize that, the better we can be used for the kingdom of God. Having said that, I am going back to something that I said several days ago, before the fire became the subject; and it has to do with serving two masters. Part of the problem with having so much stuff in our lives, is that we are drawn into the comforts that those things bring us; which, if you ask anyone that has them, they will say that it is fine to have them, and that God wants their lives to be blessed. However, the blessings received by those things are very temporary, and can also become very selfish in nature; not that we become selfish in those things, but that the thought of 'it is mine' has the ability to become more a part of us then we may otherwise know. That is until it is all taken away, and then we realize how much it meant to our testimony of God wanting to bless us...