Fire

It's Chanukah. The time when Jewish people everywhere light candles (1 everyday for 8 days) remembering a great Miracle. God in his mercy rescued the Hebrew nation, once again, from spritual slavery. He gave them back the temple so they could worship and at the same time the nation could be rebuilt.
Well, God is rescuing them again at Chanukah.
Haifa, my old "home town" is being evacuated. A huge forrest fire is blazing across the top of Mount Carmel, it's already threatened homes in the druze village of Isfiya and Denya (an affluent subburb of Haifa, very close to Kababir where I used to live) and keeps on blazing. Normally when something like this happens you can trust your neighbours to come to your aid, but what you do when you are basically surrounded by enemies?
Every so often I am reminded of the difficult position Israel finds itself in, and my heart just aches for it.  Although God has set them apart as special, or perhaps because He has, they often come under attack from every direction. We see it in the story of Chanukah, not only had the Greeks taken over the land, they had taken over the temple; sacrificing a pig on the alter and defiling the Holy of Holies. But as the Helenistic culture and religion began to spread through the nation God worked in the hearts of men to stop what to Him is an abomination. The men listened to God and became the heroes of a nation.
God works in the realities in which we live. He will use whomever and whatever is available to him in order to carry out His unchangeable will. 

Here is an unmistakable truth. "He who watches over Israel, will neither slumber or sleep." Again and again Israel makes it through, and in some cases is even aided by their enemies. It reminds me that no matter what we think of World Leaders, whether they seem to be men that would listen to God or not, He can speak to hearts. He knows them intimately and can inspire them to act with mercy! Such is the case today, when Israels neighbours come to their aid.

I am so comforted when I see how prophecy written thousands of years ago is coming true today. God will accomplish what He wills to accomplish. I can't mess that up, no matter how badly I listen sometimes. I remember how clear that was while I was living in Israel. Somehow it is so much harder to see while living in Canada, but just because I don't see it with my own eyes does not mean it is not happening. God is accomplishing miracles everyday, He is revealing himself through prophecy and signs and wonders. If I turn my eyes on Him and less on myself, I will see these things; and somehow... just in seeing them I feel like I am a part of them.  It is quite awesome.

Today, I will keep watch and I will pray. I will pray for my old home and for the safety of my friends (and other residents) there; and I will pray that God will use this fire to shine light on who He is and what He is doing in the land. God is Good; Majestic in Holiness and Awesome in Power!