50 days on and still Burning! Are you?

As reported in earlier stories, a major Bush Fire, caused by a lightning strike, began burning in the rugged Victorian Highlands back on December 1^st last year.

Because of the recent environmental conditions, there has been a heavy build up of combustible fuel on the forest floor and because of the continuing drought this has been tinder dry, and just waiting for a spark to set it off. These conditions, along with the inaccessibility of the area, have enabled this series of fires to continue on for so long with no real end in sight.

In my earlier articles I have been discussing the negative results of fire, but in this one I would like to discuss fire itself. (I am not negating the destructive power of fire here, simply emphasizing the positive side!)

Although destructive, fire does also bring new life in that it removes the dry grass and other debris from the ground and forces the grass and other plants and seeds, many long dormant, to grow again and put out fresh new shoots. We also see this with Eucalyptus trees. Whilst some tress are totally killed by fire, the native Eucalypts usually recover, only now with less competition.

So whilst Fires do often cause great damage, they also do some good. However it is the fire itself that I would like to draw your attention to now. A fire releases a lot of heat and energy but also needs lots of input in the form of fuel to keep it burning, otherwise often all what you get is a large flare up which quickly runs out of fuel and heat and energy, thus just as quickly fizzles out. The above bushfire has had and still has plenty of available fuel to keep it going, but what about you?

I don’t know about you but sometimes I feel great and start a project with great plans, dreams, and energy, only to see it fizzle out for some reason or another. Sometimes it is a lack of time. At others a lack of energy, due to a change in the weather conditions, or for some other reason!

Some of these things we have no control over but others we do and it is in regard to those things we have control over that I wish to focus on.

As we cannot change or even properly predict the weather, there is little we can do to control it, but sometimes we can prepare against it or even work with it and use it to our advantage, rather than allow it to work against us in our desire to get our objectives done. Likewise with our own energies! If we know we have a draining job ahead of us we should plan ahead before time, conserving our energy levels, and even building them up by paying attention to both our diet and to our sleep habits etc. We can also make sure that we have all the necessary tools and recourse needed lined up and ready before hand.

We need to take care of these things plus , make proper planning otherwise we will be like a lot of spot fires. A quick flare up, lots of heat and energy displayed, but with little real end results to show for it!

Yes there are some things in life that we can just loaf or bluff our way through. But there are others where we shouldn’t even start until we have prepared properly for and counted the cost off. This is also scriptural. See Luke 14: 33- 38.

What about you today? Are you in the habit of starting something without proper planning, just to see it flare up and fizzle out, or are you like the fire above, still burning months later?