July-September, 2016
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isaiah 43:2).
The promise is given to each one if we obey: The Lord will be with us if we pass through the waters; He will guide us. The waters will not drown us; and if we pass through fire, it will not burn us.
Do you remember the three young men that walked in the midst of the fiery furnace because they would not heed the king’s command to worship an idol? Were they saved? Yes, they were. My grandfather had a similar experience to that of Daniel’s three friends, but the difference is that he was not thrown in the fire by the king.
Many, many years ago my grandfather was working in Bucharest (Romania) in an oil field. There were many workers there. One night, my grandfather had a strange dream. He could not understand the meaning of it. In his dream, a man came to him and took him by the hand. They walked together about 60 miles and then the man left him. The dream ended as he woke up, so he did not think much about it, and just got dressed to go to work. But at work that day an explosion occurred and the whole oil field was set on fire. My grandfather could see the people burning alive and there was no help. Out of 150 workers, only my grandfather and a man standing next to him were saved.
When the field ignited, a small wind started circling my grandfather and the man, and it would not let the fire get near them. The place where they were standing was about 60 feet away from a forest. As they walked through the fire toward the forest, the fire opened up like two wings. Just as the Red Sea opened before the children of Israel on the left and right, the fire now stood aside until they entered the forest. Then it closed back.
A trial was held. My grandfather and the man were called to testify of how and what had happened. The judge asked, “From all the people that were in the field, how come only you two escaped from the fire? I don’t understand.” The man who was with my grandfather said to the judge, “Your honor, the only thing I can say is that the God of this man was the one who saved us.” This person was a worldly man who did not believe in God, but when this thing happened, he knew that only the Lord could have brought them out of that burning oil field.
Whenever my grandfather used to tell us the story, he had tears in his eyes. He always said, “The Lord keeps His promises all the time. He saved my life from sure death.”
I am sure that when we get to heaven, the Lord will tell us about how we all have been saved from many different perils and may not have even realized it.