Yongxin, Yibin City, Sichuan Province
We had never believed in God before. In 2005, uplifted by God, my husband, my father-in-law, my uncle, and I all accepted God’s work of the last days. Before long, the church arranged for me to do the duty of safekeeping the books. Later, our house was in a fire, and during this fire we received God’s miraculous protection. God truly is almighty!
One day in March of 2006, after lunch around 1 p.m., it was snowing heavily outside. My husband, daughter and I were inside, warming ourselves by the fire and shelling corn, when we suddenly heard a voice from outside loudly yelling, “Your house is on fire! Quick, come outside and put it out!” We hastily ran outside, and saw that the fire had already burned the roof of the kitchen and pigsty. Three unbelievers helped us fight the fire, and shouted, “Come and help fight the fire!” Two neighboring villages heard our shouts, and immediately 30 or 40 people came to help us fight the fire. At that time, I heard someone say, “Doesn’t this family believe in God? How could a fire befall them? Now that their house is burned, see if they still believe in God.” At this time, I didn’t care what they were saying. I saw that the fire was becoming more fierce. A strong wind drove the raging flames directly toward the main part of our house. I was so anxious in my heart, because in the house were the church’s books and our family’s grain. In this moment of desperation, I could only call continuously to God: “O God! May You look after and protect the church’s books and our grain, do not let them be burned.” After I prayed, a miracle happened. The wind suddenly changed direction; only then did I become a little less anxious in my heart, as I knew that the things within our house were all protected. Upon hearing the people fighting the fire talking about how much money the things that were burned were worth, we suddenly remembered that there were two pigs in the sty. My husband raced to save them; no sooner had he gone in, when suddenly a burning chunk of debris fell and blocked the doorway. Upon seeing this my heart leapt into my throat, and I desperately cried out to God in my heart, begging Him to look after and protect my husband. The unbelievers all worried my husband was in great danger. However, as everyone looked on, my husband eventually emerged from the fire safe and sound, pushing along two pigs each weighing more than 50 kg. At this time, my heart finally became calm. The fire burned for about an hour or more, in total burning the kitchen and two pigsties, resulting in an approximate loss of more than four thousand yuan.
It was only afterward that we came to know the conflagration had been started by a child playing with fire. At this time, I remembered God’s words: “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men. Behind every step that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle. … When God and Satan do battle in the spiritual realm, how should you satisfy God, and how should you stand firm in your testimony to Him? You should know that everything that happens to you is a great trial and the time when God needs you to bear testimony. … If you can win the admiration of your brothers and sisters, your family members, and everyone around you; if, one day, the unbelievers come, and admire all that you do, and see that all that God does is wonderful, then you will have borne testimony” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). In God’s words I understood that today when my family faced the burning of our house, on the surface it appeared that it had been started by a child playing with fire, but in the spiritual realm it was actually Satan and God having a bet. Satan wanted to use this to make me blame God, betray God, and deny God. When the unbelievers said, “This family’s house is burning, see if they still believe in God,” this was Satan’s temptation facing me. If I had followed the unbelievers in blaming God and judging God, then I would have lost testimony. Once I understood God’s will, I prayed to God: “O God! What I faced today is Your trial for me, and is also Satan’s temptation. May You give me faith and strength, and keep me from complaint in this matter so that I may stand testimony for You before Satan. I believe that all matters and things are in Your hands. My fate is in Your hands, and I will obey Your sovereignty and arrangements.”
That evening, our family gathered together as usual to eat and drink God’s words, and I asked my husband, “Your timber has been burned, do you blame God?” He said, “What is there to complain about? When I went to the pigsty to free the pigs, you were all worried for my life, and afraid that something would happen to me, yet in my heart I was not in the least bit scared, and in the end I emerged safe and sound. Is this not God’s protection? If not for the protection of God, our entire house would have been burned down, and as for my life it is hard to say. We have what we have today, and we must thank God for His care and protection, and thank Him for His love for us.” Indeed, during this experience, I really did see God caring for and protecting us. After our house was burnt, if not for God mobilizing several dozen people to come and quench the fire, then relying on the strength of our family alone there would have been no way to put the fire out. When the wind was pushing the fire down upon the main part of our house, if not for God using His great power to change the direction of the wind, then the church books, our grain and our house would all have been burned up. When my husband braved the flames to save the pigs, if not for God’s protection, under the intensity of such a big fire my husband would quite possibly have been burned to death, he would not have simply walked out without hurting a hair on his head. The more we communed, the more we saw God’s great power and love. Not only did we not complain, but our hearts were full of infinite gratitude to God.
From this experience, I saw with my own eyes God’s almightiness and His miraculous deeds, and also felt His kindness and His loveliness. Although after the fire, the situation of our family was slightly worse than before, it did not change at all my heart that follows God. Regardless of what others say, I firmly believe that no matter how God acts, it is always to save people, and to perfect them. I know that according to my own stature it was simply impossible to stand testimony. During this trial, I was able to stand testimony and humiliate Satan, and it is all the result of God’s work. From now on, I will read more of God’s words, equip myself with more truth, and during all kinds of trials stand testimony for God with my real stature. May all glory be given to Almighty God!
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