“You Will Walk Through Fire and Not Be Burned”

In the beginning of June 2013, I woke up in the middle of the night with the words “YOU WILL WALK THROUGH FIRE BUT YOU WILL NOT BE BURNED” ringing in my spirit. It was not audible but I could hear it deep down in my spirit. I wasn’t really sure what that was all about but I was sure it was God speaking to me. I was also sure it was in the Bible but didn’t know where it was. I looked it up. Sure enough it was in

Isaiah 43:2 (NIV):

“When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
And when you pass through the rivers,
They will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
You will not be burned;
The flames will not set you ablaze.”

For most of my Christian life, I have believed that the more I walk with Jesus the easier life will be. I thought that the redemption of God would exclude me from all of life’s troubles. The more I have walked with God, however, the more revelation I have got about this.

It is not the absence of fire that’s the miracle; it’s the walking through it and not being burned. That’s the miracle. It’s all over the Bible when you begin to think about it. In the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den in Daniel 6, God didn’t remove the lion’s den; He removed the hunger of the lions, and Daniel walked out unscathed.

If we look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (see Daniel 3), God didn’t exempt them from the fiery furnace; He delivered them from burning in it. Psalm 91 verse 7 (NIV) says, “a thousand may fall at your side ten thousand at your right hand but it will not come near you; you will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.” In Mark 4, Jesus, when on the boat in the storm, didn’t stop the storm from happening (which I’m sure He could have done). He only stopped it once it had already happened, after the disciples thought they were going to die.

Look at the book of Acts. Paul was put in prison repeatedly, he was beaten, he was shipwrecked, he was bitten by a poisonous snake, but God kept delivering him, not sparing him from it. Jesus even said in John 16:33 (NIV), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

The Jesus in you overcomes the world.

Something in me began to change as God opened my eyes to the things that have happened to me in my life. A lot of what I had seen was THE FIRE, and all I could focus on was that I was going to burn. I would say things like, “Lord, don’t you see the fire? I’m going to burn. Please remove the fire”.

But, as I began to reflect, the more I saw this awesome Jesus who had delivered me out of every situation and every fire. [More of these testimonies of walking through other fires can be found in chapter 7.] Psalm 34:19 (NIV) says “The righteous person may have many troubles but the Lord delivers him from them all.”

A few days after waking up with the words, “You will walk through fire and not be burned,” I was at church and felt to share with the congregation what the Lord had spoken to me in Isaiah 43. It seemed like a supernatural faith had come upon me, and it felt like a lion was roaring in me, reminding me of what God had done in the past for me. It was quite amazing and I thought it was for the edification of the church. Little did I know that it too was God preparing me for the raging fire that was about to unfold in our lives.

A week later, I was chatting with my brother in South Africa. He was telling me he had some pain in his stomach. It seemed like indigestion and we both thought nothing of it.

The next day I was going about my work when I got a message from my mother saying my brother had been admitted to the hospital with severe pain in his stomach. The doctors were doing some tests, thinking the issue may be with his appendix.

I called him on the phone, and he said that everything was fine. He had just been in a lot of pain. I called Tammie, and we prayed for him; we left it at that.

The next day we got a phone call from him saying that the doctors had done some tests. They had found a growth on his liver on which they wanted to operate, on the following Saturday to explore further. The doctors said it looked like end stage cancer, but they couldn’t be sure until they operated. So, we would have to wait and see.

My brother seemed pretty optimistic about it, and not too phased. It was just a thirty minute procedure. Afterwards, we would know more. We were obviously concerned, having already lost a sister to cancer. So, we waited in anticipation for the results of the surgery.

On the day of the surgery, thirty minutes turned into three hours and my parents began to worry. After three hours, he was released from surgery. The doctors spoke with my parents and my brother’s long term girlfriend and said everything seemed okay. The abnormality they had detected was just a clump of blood vessels the size of a fist. It was nothing to be concerned about because he was probably born with it. They would just need to monitor it to see if it grew over time. It was great news, but it still didn’t explain the pain.

Upon coming out of surgery, my brother was still in severe pain, running a temperature. He had to be given morphine for the pain. The doctors didn’t seem concerned and said they would monitor him for the next forty-eight hours to see how he got on.

I was a little concerned as it seemed no one knew what was going on. We thought about flying to South Africa to see my brother but Tammie, Hannah [my daughter], and I had just returned from a cruise with my parents and had been in Portugal a month earlier. I felt the need to work and earn some money.

On Sunday I spoke with my brother again. The doctors had told him he needed surgery again on Monday to determine why he was still in so much pain, as they thought perhaps he had an internal bleed. My brother seemed very confident over the phone. To be honest, he sounded fine, other than the occasional outbursts of pain he was having.

That Sunday we had a normal day and went to bed around 9:30pm. I couldn’t fall asleep, and at 10:30pm I heard God say, “Go downstairs. You need to worship me.” I knew God wanted to speak with me. So, I went downstairs and began to worship. Within a few minutes I felt the Lord speak to my spirit very clearly that Tammie, Hannah and I needed to go to South Africa tomorrow, and that I was to lead my brother to Jesus. It was very clear. Panic tried to invade my head as I knew something was very wrong. The natural things seemed to be okay, but in the spirit realm I could sense something was not right.

I didn’t tell Tammie until the next morning. In the morning I woke up crying, and Tammie knew something was up and that God had spoken to me. I told her what I had heard and she said, “If it’s God, then we must go.”

I had kept our pastor and key leaders at the church aware of the situation. They were praying and trusting God for breakthrough with us. You can never underestimate the prayers of the saints, as they can carry you when you feel you are barely able to stand, let alone walk.

I contacted my parents and my brother and told them we were coming. They told us not to worry and there was no need to come. This was just a small complication, which at the time is what it looked like. But we knew we had heard from the Lord and on the Monday morning, we had booked our flights and were due to fly that evening. My brother was scheduled for the operation in the afternoon.

Just before it was time to leave for the airport, I received a call from my parents. They were really upset. It seemed as if things had gone horribly wrong in the operation. While the doctor was operating through the keyhole surgery, he noticed that my brother’s intestine seemed to be really close to his pelvis and that it seemed to be stuck to it. When the doctor put his instrument on it to check what was happening, he touched what turned out to be an abscess full of puss. It burst as soon as he touched it.

This is my basic understanding of the events that followed. The bursting of the abscess caused puss to spread all over the inside of my brother’s body. Consequently, the doctor cut him open from his sternum to his pelvis, to take out his organs and wash them to remove the puss. If he didn’t, my brother would die. The doctor had also found that my brother’s colon was so infected that he decided to disconnect and bypass it, leave a hole in his side to monitor the colon and check what fluid was coming out of his body. The doctor said he was left with no option. If he hadn’t done it, my brother would have been dead in a few hours. They would put my brother in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for two weeks to give the infection time to subside. They would then attempt to reconnect his colon. Wow, were we glad we had heard God and were about to get on the plane.

The thing that really rocked me was that I didn’t know if God would restore him. God had only said to me that I would lead him to Jesus. Now don’t get me wrong, heaven is a victory for any man and eternity with Jesus is better than anything else in the world. However, I was not sure if I could personally handle my brother dying and watch my parents lose another child. They had already lost one child; how could this be the will of a good God?

I remember flying to Johannesburg with mixed emotions. Yes, I was sure my brother was going to spend eternity with Jesus, but I wasn’t sure how soon it would start. When we arrived in Johannesburg, I was overwhelmed with emotions and broke down at the baggage claim. I cried my eyes out, not sure if I was up to the challenge that lay ahead.

The plan was for Tammie’s sister to pick us up, and we would have lunch with her. We would then fly down to Durban two hours later on the next available flight. When we met Tammie’s sister, she said that my Mom had phoned, and I needed to call her straight away, as there had been further complications. My brother was due for another surgery in the next hour or so.

I phoned my Mom promptly. She said I needed to speak with my brother as it may be the last time I would be able to do so. The doctors had been monitoring the fluid coming out of his side, and it was the wrong colour. If they didn’t operate and fix it, he would be dead in a few hours. They didn’t want to do it as he had already had two major operations in three days and it was very dangerous, but there was no choice.

I spoke to him on the phone and prayed for God’s protection over him. I didn’t speak to him about salvation as I didn’t hear God say that. Jesus said He only did what He saw His Father do, and He only said what He heard His Father say (see John 5:19). I didn’t hear Jesus say anything at the time. So, I didn’t say anything about salvation. Straight after I put down the phone, I could almost hear the devil say, “You missed your opportunity. Now he will die and not be with Jesus.” This doesn’t help one’s anxiety levels.

On the flight down to Durban, I had begun to worship the Lord with my eyes closed, and the most amazing thing began to happen. Peace like a blanket began to fall on me. I felt the Lord say that we had the final authority in this situation. We had before us life and death, blessings and curses, and we were to choose life (see Deuteronomy 30:19). Nothing had changed in the physical realm, but something in me had changed. Peace rose up in me, and the roller coaster emotions left.

When we arrived in Durban, my Dad picked us up and took us straight to the hospital. My brother was just coming out of surgery, and they were wheeling his bed to intensive care. We went up to him and got to pray for him. He wasn’t with it due to the anaesthesia. He looked terrible and in a lot of pain. There was no peace.

The doctor had called in another specialist to help him with the surgery, believing the odds would be better with the two of them. They had both decided to remove his colon and install a stoma bag on the side of his stomach, which would now be his intestinal system. They said it was not ideal, but it was the best chance for his survival, and they did not have another choice. They had also said they would bypass many of his organs for a while, as they expected them to shut down. They had been exposed to a lot of air which was not good for them. They could not give us an opinion, but they did say it was his best chance to live. Only time would tell.

We were not allowed to stay long, so we went home and spent some time with my parents and his girlfriend, reflecting on what had happened.

The following day we went to the hospital to visit him. He didn’t seem well at all. His oxygen levels were very low. Even with oxygen he was still not getting enough. Tam and I prayed with him and his girlfriend. Once again, I did not feel the Holy Spirit tell me to speak to him about his salvation.

There wasn’t much progress that day. His kidneys began to shut down as expected. We prayed and the symptoms seemed to improve yet there didn’t seem to be a breakthrough. All this time, I was keeping the church in London informed and they were amazing in lifting him and us up in prayer and contending for his healing.

The next day was terrible. Early in the morning my brother had broken down, knocked down the nurse and physiotherapist and pulled all of the intervention tubes out. The doctors had to rush to stabilise him. After some time they managed to get him stable but were unable to replace some of the devices he had pulled out, as they could only do so in surgery.

How could God still be doing something? I thought. Surely, it’s too late.

When the doctors saw us, they said they had done their best. They had needed to restrain him to the bed, under sedation, so that he would stay unconscious. If he were to wake up and move, he could potentially hurt himself or worse; it was just too critical.

We saw him just after they had sedated and restrained him to the bed. It was terrible. There was no peace in him. It seemed as if he was fighting the sedation with everything in him. Tam and I prayed for peace, and he relaxed a bit, but it was an awful sight.

The following day around 7pm, my brother woke up and somehow came out of the sedation. With his girlfriend at his side, he called for Tammie and me to come and pray for him. We left Hannah, our daughter, with my parents and off we went to see him. I knew something was happening, I could sense it in my spirit. I immediately called my friends in the UK and asked them to pray because I knew this was about his salvation. I didn’t know if he would pass away straight after that or if God would miraculously restore him.

While we were driving to the hospital, my parents called and said he had called for them to come as well. My heart sank and all the memories of my sister’s passing away began to flood my mind. Just before she passed away, she had called for us. She eventually gave up the fight and went to be with Jesus. How could we possibly do this again?

When we arrived, Tammie and I walked straight in and he said hello. The first thing I said was, “You need to give your life to Jesus”. He immediately responded and said, “I know. I just don’t know how.”

“I’ll show you,” I said.

We prayed together and introduced him to Jesus. We then prayed for his girlfriend, and she too received Jesus.

Right there in the room Heaven invaded Earth. Just like that, I could sense the authority seat had changed; King Jesus had arrived. Now that he had given his life to Jesus, Tam and I began to pray and command the spirit of death to leave him as well as every other demonic power. It felt like the Lion of Judah had arisen in me, and I could tell in the spirit realm, the demonic kingdom had met the real King of Kings.

King Jesus is Lord, and when His kingdom comes, it comes with authority. Every other illegitimate authority has to leave. Within a couple of minutes, peace flooded in and the whole spiritual atmosphere had shifted. The physical world is subject to the spiritual world. When the word of God is spoken in faith, the physical world will manifest it (See Genesis 1). I declared Isaiah 43 over my brother, that even though he walks through fire, he will not be burned.

What happened over the next few days was nothing short of miraculous. The next day my brother, Grant, was up and able to sit in a chair for a few hours. His organs all began working again, and his oxygen levels returned to normal. Within three days he was discharged from ICU and put in a normal ward. Ten days later he was released from hospital.

God is so faithful. He never changes and will always deliver us. When we walk through fire, we will not be burned. This alone would be a great testimony, but that is not the end of the story. Since then my brother has undergone a reversal surgery and had his digestive system restored to almost normal. He no longer requires a stoma bag. After living together for the last thirteen years my brother, Grant, and his girlfriend, Kerry, got married in March 2014. They welcomed, Grace Lynda van der Merwe, a beautiful daughter into their family later that year. God is so good.

I have seen first-hand that we were not burned when we were put in the fire. But we needed to keep our eyes on Jesus and see what He was doing and saying (see John 5:19). We had to refuse to give in to fear, and instead allow God’s perfect love to cast it out (see 1 John 4:18). God is so faithful.