Any memories I have of Yellowstone National Park were contained in my trusty View-Master. (Historical note: “The View-Master system made the use of small high-quality photographic color images practical. Tourist attractions and travel views predominated in View-Master's early lists of reels, most of which were meant to be interesting to users of all ages.”)

Thanks to a recent episode of “Aerial America” on the Smithsonian Channel, my view of Yellowstone expanded beyond the View-Master.

On that episode, the camera first flew over lush forests made up of Lodgepole pine trees; then cut to footage from the devastating wildfires in 1988. The lush pine trees had become black charred sticks and littered close to 800,000 acres. So how did the new Lodgepole pines grow? Was there a massive plant a Lodgepole pine campaign?

In his soothing voice, the narrator explained a rather remarkable trait of these pines—the intense heat of the wildfires opened the trees’ cones which released thousands of new seeds that brought “new life” to the forests. The Lodgepole pines are a “fire-dependent” species.

I am not such a species.

You might say I am a “fire-averse” species, especially to trials of the fiery kind that lie in my pathway. My first reaction to a trial is usually one of surprise. How did this happen? This trial wasn’t supposed to be part of God’s plan for my wonderful life. My plan included more comfort and ease than hard decisions and anxious thoughts.

My second reaction is practical. Hmm, how I do I maneuver around the trial? What can I fix or do to make everything turn out all right? I want to hurry to the other side of the trial, with a happy ending of how great everything turned out. Like I said, I am fire-averse.

I have a hunch that Peter and James were like the Lodgepole pines—fire dependent. In just one verse, Peter dismisses my first reaction to trials, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (I Peter 4:12) Perhaps the strange thing is a life absent of trials and pain.

James, also writing to first century Christians, takes care of my second reaction just as succinctly, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)

Also, like the Lodgepole pines, Peter and James knew that the intense heat of trials would explode into revealed glory and crowns of life in the presence of Jesus. New life bursts out of heat and fire. It was true for those first century Christians. It is true fo my fellow Christians in places like China, North Korea, Pakistan and Nigeria. And, reluctantly, it has to be true for me too.

That trial of the fiery kind? It still lies in my pathway, but today, I inched a bit closer to its heat, singing softly:

“When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,

my grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply

The flames shall not hurt you. I only design

your dross to consume, and your gold to refine.”