God’s Salvation - I Experienced God’s Wonderful Deeds in the Fire
By Baishun
My name is Baishun, aged seventy this year. I am a strong-willed person. In my daily life, no matter what I did or what difficulties I encountered, I always handled them by myself. Even though I had believed in God since October, 2011, I still thought it was too vague to rely on God but realistic to depend on myself when encountering matters. Not until I experienced an accidental fire was my fallacious viewpoint turned around, and did I truly see the power of God.
My house is alone at the foot of the mountain, and is far from villages. There are mountains in front and behind, a small pool on the right, and a narrow track leading to my house on the left, which only allows the motorcycle and bike to pass through. My husband passed away 10-odd years ago, and my three children all work in the county, so I live alone all year round. On the morning of April 4, 2017, I was reading God’s word at home. At eleven o’clock, I felt hungry and wanted to cook lunch. The moment I walked out of my room, I heard a noise of cracking and breaking, and smelled a smell of burning wood. When I opened the front door, I was stunned by the scene before me: The opposite mountain had become a sea of fire; the area from in front of my door to the right of that mountain had been suffused with crimson. The strong smoke was rolling all around and nothing could be seen clearly. The fire was burning from the left to the right, which was only tens of meters off my house from the left, and was almost burning my house from the right. My house was surrounded by the fire from three directions. Seeing this, I was like a cat on the hot bricks, hoping that the villagers could see the big fire and then organize some people to put out the fire. Otherwise, my house, which my husband and I had earned through a lifetime of hard work, would be burned down. But there was no trace of anyone. Being helpless, I cried uncontrollably, thinking: Since nobody will come to help me, I have to depend on myself to handle it, I cannot wait inactive. So I hurried to get water from the pond to put out the fire. The water there was shallow and after drawing several buckets of it, I found that even though I got all the water there, I still couldn’t put out the fire. In tears, I had to beat the fire with a bamboo stick, but unexpectedly, the more I beat it, the stronger it became. My face was parched and I felt burning pain on it. Feeling hopeless, I had to stop the beat. I wanted to call my children back to put out the fire, but there was a dozen of miles from the county to my home, and even if they biked homeward from this moment, it would be too late when they arrived here. I thought: Now is the crucial time, what should I do?
The minutes ticked by but there was still no one coming to help me put out the fire, then I gave up all hope. Standing on the threshing floor, I could only helplessly see my two-floor house was going to be burned to the ground. Amidst my desperation, I thought that I am a person who believes in God. Brothers and sisters had fellowshiped with me: No matter what things we encounter, we should come before God, pray to God, rely on God and look up to God, then God will open up a way for us. Today, when facing this sudden fire, I could only depend on God. At the moment, I remembered God’s words: “no matter how great or small their stature is or what their personal environment is like, something that they cannot be without is looking to God and relying on God in all things; this is the greatest wisdom.” Right! God is almighty. When I thought of this, I prayed to God at once: O God, this big fire is going to burn my house, may You open up a way for me…. After my prayer, I was much calmer. But when I saw the big fire was still burning fiercely and without any sign of dying down, I couldn’t help getting nervous again: No! I cannot watch my house being burned down. I can only rely on myself. So, I dragged myself to the pond to get water. But after I drew several buckets, I had no strength to walk any further. I thought: In normal times, when encountering something, I can handle it, but today, facing this fire, I really can do nothing. The only way out for me is to commit it to God and let God master it — whether my house will be burned or not is in God’s hand. As I walked, I thought about it. Suddenly, I thought of Job’s experience. Just as God’s words say, “‘The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ These words are Job’s testimony to God.” At that time, when Job lost all his possessions in trials, he didn’t complain against God and still could obey God’s sovereignty and arrangement. Job was the example that I should follow. This day, such an environment was set up by God, and it was God using this to test whether I can accept and obey His sovereignty and arrangement.” When I thought of this, I saw the light in my heart.
Later, I remembered another passage of God’s words: “You must quiet your hearts at all times, live within Me; I am your Rock, your Backer. Have no other mind, but wholeheartedly lean on Me and I will certainly appear to you — I am your God!” God’s words gave me faith and strength, and also let me know that God’s authority exists everywhere and anytime. Therefore, I prayed to God again: O God, whether my house will be burned or not is in Your hand. I am a creation without my own choice, and I should only submit to Your orchestrations and arrangements. I believe that everything is in Your hand. I am only willing to commit everything to You and let You rule everything. After I made such a prayer, unexpectedly, a miracle happened. I looked up and saw the fire twisted and turned and began to move to the left of the mountain. Gradually, the fire was not as strong as before, and the crackling sound of fire also couldn’t be heard. It turned out that the fire, as if being cut down, had changed its direction little by little. Seeing this scene, I couldn’t express my feeling of excitement: My house will be saved. It is God’s great power that protects my house. This is really God’s wondrous deed!
At that point, I thought of God’s words: “Amid My words, mountains topple, waters flow in reverse, man becomes submissive, and lakes begin to flow without cease. Though the roiling seas surge angrily toward the sky, amid My words such seas are becalmed like the surface of a lake. With the slightest wave of My hand, fierce gales immediately dissipate and depart from Me, and the human world is immediately returned to tranquility.” That’s right! It is God who commands all things, so that He can let the mountains fall down, the waters flow backward, the storms disappear, and He is able to cause something to come from nothing, or something to become nothing. Everything is fast changing under God’s orchestrations and arrangements. Today, I personally experienced God’s authority and power — when I truly prayed to God and relied on Him, He was just by my side, watching over and protecting me. I couldn’t help thinking: In the past, I thought it was too unrealistic to rely on God and always solved things by myself, but today, by the facts before me, I have to be convinced that God is too almighty and too faithful, that relying on God is not vague at all, and that God is too worthy of our belief and reliance.
Through experiencing this fire, I saw that everything is in God’s control, and meanwhile, it also changed my former ridiculous viewpoint — dealing with problems by myself was realistic and relying on God was too vague. Now, I truly experience that when I am in a crisis, only God is my timely help and my true reliance. I am willing to commit all to God’s hand and submit to His sovereignty and arrangement. Thanks be to God!
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