I Was Stuck in a House Fire. Just as I Was Preparing to Die, God Moved.

6 years ago, I narrowly escaped a house fire. My husband and I had just moved into a new apartment and were experimenting with a bunch of new recipes. One night, I decided to deep fry some chicken. I didn’t have a traditional deep fryer, so I simply poured oil into a pot, put it on high heat, and popped on a lid. I peeked at the oil as it heated and, since it wasn’t boiling, I pulled off the lid. Immediately, a two-foot flame sprang out towards the ceiling. 

I shrieked, picked up the pot by the handle, and called my husband over. I was scrambling, trying to remember if it was okay to put burning oil under water. With each passing second, the fire inched closer and closer to my hand. Desperate, we turned on the kitchen faucet and dropped the pot underneath. 

It turns out that adding water to a grease fire leads to an explosion. The fire burst out of the sink, climbed up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the opposite wall. My husband and I sprinted across the apartment and made it to the door, only to find that we’d locked the deadbolt earlier. In the stress and confusion of the moment, neither of us were able to unlock it. We stood there, frantically trying to open the door, as the fire spread all around us. I truly believed that these were my last moments on earth. Just as I was about to give up, I called on the Lord. I screamed two words: “Be merciful.” Instantly, the door flew open. 

We ran out of our apartment and into the night. When we got outside, we realized that God had not only opened our apartment door; He’d also put the fire out. A few minutes prior, our apartment had been consumed in a grease fire. Somehow, all that was left was thick smoke and fixable fire damage. My husband and I stood outside in awe; between the two of us, we didn’t have even one burn. Not a single strand of hair had been singed. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

That experience taught me two things. One: if you want to deep fry something, use a deep fryer. And two — more importantly — God is sovereign. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. Our survival that night was a miracle; it was a crazy, wondrous act of the Lord. There’s simply no other explanation. God is for us and He is with us.