The Preacher's Wife
Comments and Poems
By Ruth R. Martin




The weather had been dry. Very dry for a very long time. Trees and plants, vegetation of every kind was drying up, shriveling, brittle in the drought. And then it started. From some unknown source-- a match dropped carelessly, a spark from a campfire, a cigarette tossed from a car window...no one will ever know what or who started it. But a little yellow flame licked at a dry twig, spread to the bush, to a patch of bushes and weeds, growing, hungrily eating everything it touched. Soon an entire hillside was on fire, but it was in a deserted area so no one noticed. It gained strength by the minute, and went rushing across meadows and plains, climbing , blazing, flaming up mountain sides, through dense forests. By now it was out of control, destroying homes, animals, people, everything in it's path. Every newscast, every issue of every paper carried stories of the danger, the damage and destruction. Trained corps and volunteers fought desperately to bring it under control. We came to fear , and to strangely respect, the force of the word...

WILDFIRE!

Emotions ran as wild as the flames, fear for those in it's path, anger at the senseless destruction, confusion and despair over the desolation left in it's path. Finally ,the wildfires were brought under control leaving the country shaken and broken , trying to put what was left back together. Even though we were not in danger , we were captured by the ever-advancing dancing red line seen on every tv and front page of every newspaper.

Later, I had another thought, this one a happy positive thought about wildfire. When the Spirit came at Pentecost, He came in the appearance of tongues of fire and from that time a little band of believers went forth into their world with the burning message of God's great love for lost mankind revealed in the gift of His Son on Calvary. The message of love and faith and hope and life spread like wildfire from village to town to city, across the seas , to every country and nation, down through the ages. But unlike other wildfires, God's Wildfire only burns away that which is evil and sinful and tainted by godless design. In it's wake is fresh ground, new growth, nourishment and water that quenches the spirit's thirst. God's Wildfire is a terrible, beautiful, awesome, cleansing force that changes men and women for eternity. It sweeps into the strongholds of Evil , burning ,cleansing. releasing. And to those who step by faith into the flame it becomes a purifier, burning out the dross and leaving only fine gold fit for the King's service Hebrews 12:29 says,"For our God is a consuming fire." and I Peter 1:7 tells us that when our faith comes through fiery trials it will be purified and made "more precious than gold." .





God's Wildfire



The spirit of the Living God
Is like a burning flame.
It sets afire the hearts of men
Who call upon His Name.
The Gospel is a blazing torch
That's tossed from hand to hand.
With flaming tongue man spreads the Word
Through every tribe and land.


A burning in the wilderness,
A blazing in the town;
A flaming in the souls of men
That turns this world around.
It rages through the undergrowth,
The tangled thorns of sin.
It leaves a clean and ready path
For God to work within.


God's wildfire!
Sweeping o'er the mountains!
God's wildfire!
Sweeping 'cross the plains!
Burning out the dross of sin;
Letting peace and goodness in.
God's wildfire! Burning in my soul.

rrm/71