Sabbath Thought – Hut on Fire

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out, “God! How could you do this to me?” Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! “How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers. “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied. The moral of this story: It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground; it just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

There have been times I have felt like my hut in on fire – times when I thought my options were in the ashes. How about you? We can get so invested in what we think are the only options for God to deliver us, that we can forget that He is Sovereign and can direct our paths in ways that are beyond us (Isaiah 55:8). This should not be news to us, for we have many examples in the Bible to show us that God is aware of His people and will take care of them (Psalm 34:15). Job thought everything important in his life was gone in one day. Joseph saw his whole life change on the day his brothers sold him into slavery. Moses figured his life was over when he killed the Egyptian and fled for his life. Sampson saw his life completely unravel when Delilah cut off his hair and the Philistines put out his eyes. Martha and Mary were consumed with grief when they buried Lazarus knowing Christ could have healed him.

God could have worked with those individuals differently, but He didn’t because He saw a way to reach them in a particular way so they could be more than they thought possible. Do you realize that God sees us the same way? In Deuteronomy 14:2 we are told that God has chosen us and made us a holy people. In 1 Peter 2:9 we are reminded that “…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light….” 

I will end with one more story. Thomas Edison invented the microphone, the incandescent light, talking movies and more than 1000 other things. By December 1914 he had worked for 10 years on a storage battery. This had greatly strained his finances. One particular evening spontaneous combustion had broken out in the film room. Within minutes all the packing compounds, celluloid for records and film and other flammable goods were in flames. Fire companies from eight surrounding towns arrived, but the heat was so intense and the water pressure so low that the attempt to douse the flames was futile. Everything was destroyed. With all his assets going up in a whoosh would his spirit be broken? (Although the damage exceeded two million dollars, the buildings were only insured for $238,000 because they were made of concrete and thought to be fireproof). The inventor’s 24-year-old son, Charles, searched frantically for his father. He finally found him, calmly watching the fire, his face glowing in the reflection, his white hair blowing in the wind. “My heart ached for him,” said Charles. “He was 67 – no longer a young man – and everything was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, ‘Charles, where’s your mother?’ When I told him I didn’t know, he said, ‘Find her. Bring her here. She will never see anything like this as long as she lives.’” The next morning, Edison looked at the ruins and said, “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.”  Three weeks after the fire, Edison managed to deliver the first phonograph.

God is not interested in maintaining our “huts” if allowing them to be destroyed brings us out of darkness into His marvelous light. May God show you great possibilities through the tough times you may face.

I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

15 November, 2025