Why are you afraid?

A little girl is trapped inside a burning building. She would scream if she thought anyone could hear her. Instead, she cries over the things that she will miss. Playing with her dog, running through the leaves, holding her mother… She wonders how much her mother will miss her. A wooden beam blazing with fire falls next to her. She huddles into the corner. She doesn’t want to die.

A massive axe smashes its way through a wall. Followed by a fireman. To the little girl, this is no mere man. He is an angel sent from God to save her. Calmly he walks over to her. He throws a special blanket around her and picks her up in his safe arms. The little girl stares into his blissfully calm eyes. The raging fire and crumbling building fails to make the slightest of impressions on this man. He smiles at her “Why are you afraid?” With those simple words her raging heart settles into blissful peace. There is nothing to fear anymore.

Confidently he walks out, not bothered by the flames wrapping around his waist. She can see the fire flickering next to her face, but it doesn’t matter. She just stares at him. He’s still smiling. Now and then he looks down at her, and she smiles. In all of this horror, in the fire and carnage… she smiles.

She isn’t surprised when they make it outside. Her faith in this man is unbreakable. He hands her to a paramedic and calmly walks back into the fire.

We all need someone that will be there for us in our darkest hour asking us “Why are you afraid?”