By Jizhen
One day in late October of 2014, at past 3 p.m., my husband ran home in a great fluster. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he said breathlessly, “A large fire has broken out in the north fields. It’s going to spread to our house. There is no time to remove other things. Take out our ID cards, residence booklet, and all the other papers, and put them in a safe place quickly.” With that, he hurried to run out. I followed him out and looked toward the north, where there had already existed a sheet of flame. Fanned by a wind, the fire was roaring with thick smoke billowing up. I was quite terrified by the scene. The northwesterly wind of force 5-6 blowing strongly, flames were leaping around. I saw that the fierce fire was less than 200 meters away from my house. Considering that my house of thatch and wood, without courtyard walls, would be soon ablaze once it caught fire, I thought of my books of God’s word then. I knew that these books are more important than my life to me. Where should I put them? I fluttered about with anxiety, just like a cat on a hot tin roof. What should I do? I suddenly remembered God. Then I called out to God earnestly, “O God! The fields behind my house are on fire. It is about to spread to my house. I must keep the books of Your word safe. Where should I put them? Please guide and help me. God!” After the prayer, I suddenly thought of my vegetable cellar, which was more than three meters deep. Very excited, I thanked God for His guidance and leadership. I hurriedly put in a bucket my books of God’s word, residence booklet, and all the other papers, and let the bucket down with a rope into the vegetable cellar. Following this, I breathed a sigh of relief and kept thanking God. I personally experienced that I was so small and helpless in the face of disaster, and that only God is my reliance.
At that point, all men in our village went to the fields to fight the fire, and women were busying themselves moving things out of their houses, screaming and yelling. At the edge of our village, there were two excavators of our village that were digging ditches. Looking toward the north, I saw the fierce fire rapidly coming toward my house with the northwesterly wind of force 5-6. Besides, the fire was just sixty or seventy meters away from my house. At that time, knowing that there was nothing I could do, I knelt down and prayed to God, “O God! Whether or not my house will be burnt is arranged by Your hands. I’m willing to obey You. No matter how badly my house is burnt, I will not resent You.” After praying, I saw that the fire was about to spread to my house. Just then, a miraculous thing happened. The wind instantly veered to the south-west. In consequence, the fire spread to another place. I saw God’s sovereignty and wonderful deeds with my own eyes. At that moment, I thought of God’s words, “The disaster originates with Me and is of course orchestrated by Me” (“Prepare Sufficient Good Deeds for Your Destination”). “Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, everything of his life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. Such is the way in which God presides over all things” (“God Is the Source of Man’s Life”). At that time, I practically experienced that everything, dead or alive, is in God’s hand and will shift according to His thoughts. Especially I tasted that when I truly called upon God in a crisis, He listened to my prayers, removed my difficulties and anxieties, and rescued me from danger. Through this experience, I truly felt that God is right by my side. Just as God says, “Until, one day, you will feel that the Creator is no longer a riddle, that the Creator has never been hidden from you, that the Creator has never concealed His face from you, that the Creator is not at all far from you, that the Creator is no longer the One that you constantly long for in your thoughts but that you cannot reach with your feelings, that He is really and truly standing guard to your left and right, supplying your life, and controlling your destiny. He is not on the remote horizon, nor has He secreted Himself high up in the clouds. He is right by your side, presiding over your all, He is everything that you have, and He is the only thing you have” (“Knowing God Is the Path to Fearing God and Shunning Evil”). Before the fact, I saw God’s realness and almightiness. Furthermore, I genuinely experienced that God is by our side, and that He is the God who listens to our prayers. This is like Job who only heard about God before he underwent trials, but he saw God after his great trials. Though this environment I encountered can’t be compared with Job’s trials, it made me practically see God, and see that the Creator is so real and almighty. At that time, I was so excited that I didn’t know what to say but only kept thanking God.
The fire burnt up over 70 acres of cornstalks of our village. Without God’s protection, my house would have been the first to be burnt. It was because of God’s protection that the wind shifted. Through the fire, I have gained a deeper understanding of God’s almightiness and sovereignty and wonderful deed. Thank God! All the glory be to God!
