A viral video made the rounds this past week, showing a Turkish mother throwing her four children out of a third-story apartment window in order to save them from a fire.
The incident unfolded in a five-story building in the Esenler District of Istanbul’s European side. Video captured the tense moments as the mother is seen dropping each child from a window through which black smoke is billowing.
Beneath her, a host of concerned neighbors can be seen stretching out a blanket and catching each child in turn. Thankfully, local authorities were able to confirm later that all four children were safe, and in good condition. Firefighters were able to put out the fire without loss of life.
As I reflected on this, I naturally found myself admiring this woman for the decisive action she took on behalf of her children. Not only was she quick-thinking; she was also brave. It is apparent that she was willing to sacrifice herself completely if needed in order to save the children she loved. Most every parent can relate to her ordeal.
I have never been put in such a position with regard to my own children. I like to think that if I ever were, I would respond in a similar manner to that of this Turkish mother. I know my own parents would have on my behalf.
No doubt the children involved did not necessarily grasp all that was involved as this nightmare unfolded. It is likely that they simply trusted their mother and did her bidding, not really understanding the “whats and whys” of the situation. In the end, of course, their trust in their mother was rewarded, as their lives were saved and their futures were secured.
And it is in this light that the story has a spiritual application; for it strikes me that this is similar to the way our Heavenly Father so often works in our lives as His children.
There have been plenty of times in my life when God has suddenly and inexplicably sent me in some given direction or to some given location, often at a pace I never expected or appreciated. And yet, anytime He has done any such in my life, it has invariably been in my own best interest – even if I did not grasp what or why He was doing in the process.
No doubt, the four above-mentioned children will one day grow up and reflect on the events of this significant day. And when they do, they will better be able to understand what their mother was doing and why she was doing it. It was done in their best interest. It was, therefore, done purely out of her love for them!
And this much I know. As I look back over my life, it is easier to understand the mind and the hand of God in retrospect. In all those times when I did not know always what God was up to, or why, I now see more than ever that He clearly had a purpose.
Where are you in your life? Are you, like me, at a place where things are finally beginning to make a little more sense? Where all the places God sent you, as well as the timing of it all, at last seem to reflect a divine plan?
Or are you still at that place where things are not always making much sense? Where your Heavenly Father seems to be sending you in directions and to locations you do not anticipate, and for reasons you do not fully appreciate?
Either way, perhaps Charles Spurgeon put it best when he said, “God is too good to be unkind; and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”
STORY: Available widely on the internet. See for instance: https://www.foxnews.com/world/turkey-istanbul-mother-saves-children-fire-window-video.
SPURGEON QUOTE: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1403154-god-is-too-good-to-be-unkind-and-he-is.
The incident unfolded in a five-story building in the Esenler District of Istanbul’s European side. Video captured the tense moments as the mother is seen dropping each child from a window through which black smoke is billowing.
Beneath her, a host of concerned neighbors can be seen stretching out a blanket and catching each child in turn. Thankfully, local authorities were able to confirm later that all four children were safe, and in good condition. Firefighters were able to put out the fire without loss of life.
As I reflected on this, I naturally found myself admiring this woman for the decisive action she took on behalf of her children. Not only was she quick-thinking; she was also brave. It is apparent that she was willing to sacrifice herself completely if needed in order to save the children she loved. Most every parent can relate to her ordeal.
I have never been put in such a position with regard to my own children. I like to think that if I ever were, I would respond in a similar manner to that of this Turkish mother. I know my own parents would have on my behalf.
No doubt the children involved did not necessarily grasp all that was involved as this nightmare unfolded. It is likely that they simply trusted their mother and did her bidding, not really understanding the “whats and whys” of the situation. In the end, of course, their trust in their mother was rewarded, as their lives were saved and their futures were secured.
And it is in this light that the story has a spiritual application; for it strikes me that this is similar to the way our Heavenly Father so often works in our lives as His children.
There have been plenty of times in my life when God has suddenly and inexplicably sent me in some given direction or to some given location, often at a pace I never expected or appreciated. And yet, anytime He has done any such in my life, it has invariably been in my own best interest – even if I did not grasp what or why He was doing in the process.
No doubt, the four above-mentioned children will one day grow up and reflect on the events of this significant day. And when they do, they will better be able to understand what their mother was doing and why she was doing it. It was done in their best interest. It was, therefore, done purely out of her love for them!
And this much I know. As I look back over my life, it is easier to understand the mind and the hand of God in retrospect. In all those times when I did not know always what God was up to, or why, I now see more than ever that He clearly had a purpose.
Where are you in your life? Are you, like me, at a place where things are finally beginning to make a little more sense? Where all the places God sent you, as well as the timing of it all, at last seem to reflect a divine plan?
Or are you still at that place where things are not always making much sense? Where your Heavenly Father seems to be sending you in directions and to locations you do not anticipate, and for reasons you do not fully appreciate?
Either way, perhaps Charles Spurgeon put it best when he said, “God is too good to be unkind; and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.”
STORY: Available widely on the internet. See for instance: https://www.foxnews.com/world/turkey-istanbul-mother-saves-children-fire-window-video.
SPURGEON QUOTE: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1403154-god-is-too-good-to-be-unkind-and-he-is.