Friday, August 7, 2009

No smell, please!


Daniel 3: 27

They didn't even smell of smoke!


 

It seemed like months since the fire, but it was only days. Again, the daily routine of going to my home and putting on the white suit and doing the inventory of my belongings from the fire, how much longer? If you haven't experienced a fire or loss of home, you have to inventory all your belongings. It was awful the smells, the dirt, the nastiness left from the fire. My treasures with the remains of a fire on all of them and me! The smell is the one thing that you just can't seem to get rid of and we ended up with house coming down due to the smells that would never go away. We didn't want that reminder daily of the fire. We didn't want to smell of smoke.

I first heard this verse when I was little, but it didn't stick with me until the fire. One day my friend Frankie shared this scripture and reminded me of the story of Daniel. She reminded me in her sweet manner to not let myself smell of the smoke. She didn't come right out and tell me Debbie don't wear this fire on your shirt sleeve, but God used it that way. He reminded me through Frankie that things happen, but we don't have to smell like the things that happen.

I didn't want to smell of smoke, but I wanted God to use me and the experience of the fire. God rescued us from the fire and the smell of the fire!

Sweet Aromas,

Debbie

3 comments:

Linda said...

I like this---I, too, had heard the verse, but never really given it much thought at all. Frankie gave you (and us) a good reminder that our experiences shape us, but we don't have to wear them as ugly reminders.

Rozi said...

I don't smell any smoke on you. God is good and your walk with Him encourages us all.

Frankie said...

Debbie, I like the title that you gave today's writing, "No smell, Please!" What is evident in your situation, the fire, is that you had to choose how you were going to live your life from that point forward. I believe that you chose the better way, to find blessings in your tradegy, to look for God in it all and to not "smell like smoke" the rest of your life.

What I like from the rest of that story in Daniel 3: vs.19-30 is that the way we walk through the "fires" in our lives may cause others like King Nebuchaneezar did to proclaim, "Praise God...There is no other god who can rescue like this!"