FdD Notebook No. 10 – 4/9/25
After the Fire
Tea and börek
By Chelsea Conrad
Since Ramadan just finished, we were invited to a Turkish friend’s house for a delicious lunch. I was touched by her willingness to host me and five of the kids after fasting and preparing large meals for a month. She is such a gracious friend and it was a warm visit. It seems like it’s always easy for us to have conversations about spiritual things. We were noticing all of the bright greens and purples of spring, when she said, “I can’t imagine someone seeing all of these colors and intricate flowers and not believing that there was someone behind all of this.” I was completely sharing her thoughts and added that this God must love us. I shared a verse with her about Jesus asking us to come to Him for rest. She received it, but I feel that her guard comes up at the mention of the Bible and she was quick to bring in the Qur’an. It seems like a desire to stay faithful to Islam. I just pray that this beautiful friend of mine, who I have so much respect for, would be willing to look at the Bible and even pray together.
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Since it’s the kids Spring Break, the Notebook is a bit pared down this week. This article was originally published in 2022, and I was reminded of it yesterday while I was in a meeting (outside) and I noticed the ants going back and forth under our chairs. It really is an astonishing world we live in, where we are so surrounded by marvelous creatures that we don’t even notice the vast majority of them.
After the Fire
Our family was driving through the Var region of southern France recently, and we passed through an area that had been burned in a forest fire just last summer. The scars of that destruction were still clearly visible, but what was astonishing was the amount of green already bursting forth, the unstoppable life pushing through and undoing all the hard work of the forces of darkness. Surely the devil would have liked to make a permanent waste of those mountains. How hateful it must be to him so see the world full of God's creatures glorifying him ceaselessly, reflecting back his beauty and exalting his wisdom! How powerful is the original goodness of creation still after all these centuries of sin's reign over the hearts of men! Despite all the best efforts of corrupt humanity and the diabolical powers that be, the world is still crammed with jaw-dropping beauty.
Here in the neighborhood park kids are laughing on the swings. Mothers are pushing strollers. Old men are playing pétanque. Tween girls are leaning on each-other as they roller skate. Odds are that none of these people know Christ. Yet even in the grip of sin's corruption, people in God's image still radiate joy and beauty and life. The damage done by sin is vast, but the enduring goodness of creation testifies to the pathetic weakness of the forces of sin and death.
We say that God is in complete control over this world, but how often do we look and marvel at all the resilient created goodness standing in defiance of chaos and destruction? Even when the horrible devastation wrought by sin is massive beyond comprehension, God's love and compassion on the work of his hands are greater still. The storms are terrifying and deadly, but all of them pass. The Church stands undaunted, and even where Christ is not named, common grace refuses to abandon even the darkest corners of creation.
From one perspective, so many things seem to be going wrong these days, and we worry about what the future holds, but even if all that we fear comes true, what of it? All the gains of the devil are limited and fleeting, and all his pathetic schemes are dashed to pieces by a single word from the throne of heaven. The fire passes through for a moment, but life inevitably returns to take back its own.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Psalm 104:24