Throw down the hose.

Years ago, my parents bought a large house and started fostering teenagers. These teens were called “status offenders” and instead of being placed in a detention facility, they were placed with Mom and Dad. They had about 50 kids during the years they did this.

One day, one of the boys was smoking in the barn behind the house and he accidentally set the barn afire. It was very old, and big and it went up fast.

As the flames grew higher, Dad was afraid it was going to catch the house on fire so he climbed on the roof with a garden hose and started spraying water on the shingles, hoping to get them wet enough that the embers from the barn wouldn’t ignite them.

He had sunk his life savings, and then some, into this home - his first big commitment to ministry, years before he quit his job and went to Bible college and entered full time ministry. The fire kept getting hotter and closer, and he cried out, “God, stop this fire! I can’t lose this house!!”

The heat became too great and Dad was eventually forced to admit it was a losing battle.

As he threw down the hose and started to climb off the roof, he looked up to the sky and said, “OK God. This is your house. This is your ministry. You told me to do this. If you want it to burn to the ground, go right ahead.”

He climbed down the ladder and as he did, the wind shifted. He could feel it. The flames stopped rushing southward towards the house and went due west, burning the soybean field adjacent to the driveway, and sparing the house.

I was living a couple of hours away, and I rushed home when I heard the news.

As I drove up the long driveway, I could see smoke rising from the remains of the old barn. And I could see a distinct burn line in the grass between the barn and the house, and then another burn line in the soybean field - where the wind had redirected the fire.

The house was saved, and my Dad learned a life lesson he carried the rest of his life.

Sometimes you have to throw down the hose and give it to God. When you’ve done all you know to do, say a prayer, and drop the hose.

You can’t fix everything. And it doesn’t really belong to you anyway.

Sometimes God may let it burn. Sometimes He might change the wind.