In a photo posted on her Facebook page, Rebecca St. James shows how close the two-story fire came to their home. Was this God’s Divine protection?
Gospel singer Rebecca St. James recently told how her home was miraculously protected from fires ravaging California in mid May.
On Wednesday, May 14, 2014, St. James posted a message on her Facebook page stating her family was evacuating their home because of a California wildfire. She asked people to pray for them.
She wrote:
“We may have lost our house and everything we own to a fire today… I saw the 2 story flames a few hundred yards away.
“Please pray for us. I got out with [my baby daughter], our dog and a baby book in the car when police were arriving ordering evacuation.”
However, when they returned to their home, they were shocked to find it had been spared. She posted a photo of how the fire had stopped just a few feet short of their home. And other than a tree on their property being burned and a water pipe bursting, there was no other damage.
St. James said a day later:
“It’s a total miracle ’cause the wind changed right when the fires were about to take over our house.
“You can see the proof when you look at where the fire stopped, 3 feet from our back fence. The fire was a 2-3 story wall of flame, only meters away from our home!”
God has used wind in the past for protection. In the Book of Exodus, God used wind to separate the sea (Exodus 14:21) allowing Moses and the Israelites to escape the pursuing Egyptian pharaoh and his army.
Protection from Colorado fires
This is not the first time this has happened. In 2012, fires were ravaging Colorado. And in the midst of this, God’s hand of protection was again evident.
Eagle Lake Camp is owned by the Navigators a Christian ministry based in Colorado Springs. As the flames swept up the mountain, the camp ended up being completely surrounded by fire, yet it seemed there was a hedge of protection around the camp as only one cabin was lost.
Rachel Engel is daughter of one of the directors at the camp. She said at the time:
“It’s a miracle not more has been burned of the camp — it’s surrounded on all sides. It’s just been insane — God has truly put up a wall of protection.”
According to reports, the fire destroyed 15,000 acres on the affected mountain and resulted in the evacuation of 32,000 people.
Protection from a boulder
And then there was the incredible protection of a church in Massachusetts. An excavation company was blasting in an area behind Grace Ministries Church in Saugus, Mass, when they dislodged a massive 20 ton bolder. The rolling bolder stopped just inches short of their building.
The pastor of the church, Rick LeClair, was actually across the street when it happened and he saw the massive bolder dislodge and then start rolling towards the church. He thought the building was toast. But the boulder literally stopped 12″ from a building used to store food to feed thousands of people.
In an interview with WCVB TV, LeClair said:
“We were standing across the street saying, ‘Uh-oh. There it goes. I was thinking the church was going to get wrecked, but I had this peace about me where it really wasn’t going to get wrecked. And it didn’t.
“The Lord just kinda said, ‘That’s enough.’”
Watch a video of the miraculous protection below:
Pray a hedge of protection
There is an interesting verse in the Book of Job about the protection God was giving His Old Testament saint. Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible and Job probably lived in the time just before the flood. During this period, Satan has unusual access to God.
When God asked Satan if he had ever considered Job, who God called one of the most righteous men on earth at that time.
Satan replied that Job is only serving God, because Jehovah had put a “hedge” of protection around him. Though this hedge of protection was invisible to in the physical realm, it was clearly visible in the spiritual and provided protection for Job and his property.
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” (Job 1:9-11 NASV)
I believe this protection is available to all of us. One of the things that Job did “continually” was to offer sacrifices for himself and even his children, just in case they cursed and sinned against God in their hearts. Job was continually believing and embracing the forgiveness of God, not only for himself but his family.
But the Job account also shows how at times God can purposefully withhold His protection for at times. We even see a reference to this in the New Testament, when Satan demanded that God turn Peter over to him for a time of testing.
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission [or obtained by asking] to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32 NASV)
This is why we can see such miraculous moments of divine intervention and then sit back and wonder at other times where God is?
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