A few years ago Adelaide in South Australia experienced ferocious bushfires which burned wildly out of control wiping out huge forests and devouring a massive chunk of our beautiful countryside. These tracts of land skirted the area I reside in which is considered to be outer suburbia or foothills.

I will never forget it. I was evacuated in the middle of the night after enjoying such a brief restful sleep. I was awakened by multiple phone calls, mobile phone texts, and Facebook messages from family and the CFS (Country Fire Service). I tried to ignore or pretend it wasn't happening by returning to bed as sleep strongly beckoned. No use…too much noise. The buzzing sound outside kept building to the point where I wondered what was going on. I opened the front door to smell smoke. I saw my neighbours directly opposite leaving in their car. Many more in our quiet little street were also leaving. It seemed as if every other house had a car reversing down the driveway onto the road. What an eerie experience! I found this all somewhat difficult to process. Is this really happening? What a bother! I just want to have my lovely sleep, study in the morning, and then get ready for services as per my usual routine on the Sabbath. Why does this have to be happening to me??? OK. Think. The CFS said I could stay and fight the fire or get out now if the roads were safe to do so.

The famous words of Queen Esther echoed loudly in my ears. In our bibles we can refer to Esther 4:16 where she so eloquently states "If I perish, I perish". That's exactly how I felt! I did not truly believe that the house I lived in would burn down for a start, as I trust God with my life completely. But if it did for some reason, then so be it. Of course I would like to live longer as there are many more goals to achieve and a big work to be done spreading the Word.

Then I came to realise that this choice is a selfish one. My family wanted and urged me to leave. They even begged by pleading with me. And so I said "OK I will get a few things together and go". My daughter made me promise and so I did. My love and concern for her superseded my desires. The scripture popped into my head from Philippians 2:3 "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself". Common sense told me that sleeping people do not smell smoke or fire and being in the dark of night is another factor to make things more difficult to gauge. If things suddenly became worse then escape would no longer be possible.

What choices should I make when deciding what to save?

I quickly looked around the 3 bedroom home. I had lots of stuff. None of it really meant a big deal to me. I mean, it was nice to sit on a leather recliner sofa with your feet up whilst watching a good documentary on the big smart TV. My bed was very comfortable. I had lovely art hanging on the walls. A cabinet full of trinkets. It all seemed so trivial and inconsequential now. I certainly wasn't going to try and lug heavy stuff into the car.

What I took was my most familiar "work" bible and then the new chronological bible I had recently purchased. My thoughts raced about -- having my iPad and mobile phone as communication would be important. I also collected the electrical plug-in devices so I could charge both items. A change of clothing. I grabbed the cat and stuffed it into the travel box that is mainly reserved for vet visits (poor cat) plus a box of cat food. A bottle of water. My handbag with wallet. One family photo in a nice frame. That was about it. Wait........should I take my ultra comfy pillow? I always take it now to feast sites after ending up with a sore neck one year. No, I'd better not. That just seems silly and extravagant. I thought I would be able to return in the morning anyway.

So with a couple of bags and the cat in the cat box I locked the house and got into the car. It was quite comforting to know that possessions were not as important to me as what they once were. As I drove away I could see some of the cars were absolutely filled to the brim with household items. I also wondered where I would go in the middle of the night with a cat in tow. Another scripture surfaced in my brain, that of Proverbs 27:10 "Do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend, nor go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity; better is a neighbour nearby than a brother far away".

Staying overnight at a nearby friend's place

There was no way any sleep came to me the remainder of that night. It was well over 30 degrees Celsius all night. We were without any comforts such as a toilet or air conditioning. We stayed in a backyard rumpus room so as not to wake the occupants of the main house. I was so relieved to have a place to go to that accommodated my cat free range that I tried to forget how hot it was. Sweat rolled down our backs. I had trouble focusing. I wanted information. So all night I got on/off the iPad to view the CFS website. Each time I looked, even more incidents were logged, which meant there were more bushfires and they were spreading rapidly. During the course of the next 6 hours the incidents went from 7 to well over 100.

In the morning I decided to see if it was safe to return home. The police met me at a road block about 3 km away. I was allowed to go home to shower but was firmly told to "get in and get out as quickly as you can". So I went and did what I had to and rang my sister who lived down by the beach. I spent the day with her and she was very grateful for my company. It was a bit of a drive on the freeway to get there and I nearly dozed off as the heat and lack of sleep were catching up with me.

Lessons learned from leaving my home for safety on the Sabbath

The following Sabbath I woke up suddenly quite ill. I was unable to attend services and was sick for a whole week. I found myself slowed down by fatigue, lethargy, sleep, and no desire or motivation to do anything much except pray to God and listen to online sermons. It was then that I had a huge breakthrough about some much needed spiritual lessons. I would like to share some of these with you.

Emergencies happen and they can happen at any time, even on the Sabbath. I was not prepared in any way and even denied there was a state of emergency. I did not want to accept the interruption to my usual activities. I learned that I enjoy my comforts too much and I do not like inconvenience. Moreover, when suffering from sleep deprivation I do not think clearly and all sensible thoughts seem to evade me. It is precisely then that I am at my weakest point (Matthew 26:41).

As we read in Exodus and Deuteronomy, the Sabbath is a commanded assembly (Exodus 20:8-10; 31:16-17 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15). If at all possible, God expects us to worship Him and be with others of like mind on the Sabbath. Instead, I did many things that Sabbath that I would ordinarily never do otherwise. I did not attend services due to lack of sleep and inability to focus and concentrate. I did not study. I sat and watched news reports all day with my sister. Usually I do not watch TV on the Sabbath at all unless it is the Beyond Today programme. I had intentions to attend services initially but these fell by the wayside as the time got closer. I should have, at some point, excused myself to get a couple of hours sleep so that I could wake up and go to services. Instead of being more fervent in prayer, I was not. An important lesson learnt was to have control over my thoughts and emotions even while fatigue sets in. This was an emergency and it was fine to leave but I was too focused on self and a chain reaction was set off with a ripple effect. I was a poor example to my sister on how to keep the Sabbath because of compromise.

Instead of worshipping God I seemed to become paralysed with inaction and inactivity. Conforming to what was the "norm" in my sister's house was a difficult decision to make initially but as time passed it became easier to compromise my observance of the Sabbath. I justified needing to adjust out of polite behaviour whereas my sister actually said to me to go about and do what I normally do.

In contrast to my behaviour another lesson I learned, was that many people actually helped in this emergency. Some people made sandwiches and brought food and drinks for the CFS crew - the beloved "firies" who risk their lives by saving others' lives and properties. Some offered shelter to animals; some opened up their hearts and homes to strangers; some hopped on Facebook to mention they have found injured or lost animals escaping the fires. Some pledged monetary donations to those without. Clothing, toys, games, so many gifts donated and provided for all those living over the next few days in the local hall set up as an emergency evacuation shelter. The list could go on and on. The camaraderie felt and experienced between total strangers was incredibly humbling and beautiful to witness. If only things could be like this all the time.

Local newspaper praises those that helped

And so I will have these experiences to draw on. Meanwhile life goes on; people are back in their homes while some lost their buildings in the bushfires. Thank God no lives were lost. The CFS gained many new volunteers especially from young adults. Our local newspaper -- the Leader Messenger mentioned "The spirit that was shown in people that night was amazing" (Wednesday January 7, 2015, p. 3). People recognised something was very different to the usual way people behaved. For a brief time while this terrible bushfire emergency took hold over several days, there was true outgoing concern for others no matter their age, heritage, status, belief system, or colour. People saw a need and they filled it willingly, without asking for anything in return. It was like a very small taste of God's soon coming Kingdom and it was beautiful and very humbling to see unfold in front of my eyes.

I returned after spending two nights away as the danger was downgraded to "Watch and Act" which means if things became dangerous again then evacuation would need to be revisited. I did purchase a small retro style radio that took batteries for the future. I decluttered several cupboards of things I no longer needed or used ready for donation. I learnt that the unlikely can become the likely and that emergencies are never convenient. The earlier you react with a plan the better the outcome will be. In times of calm and relative peace it is easy to keep the Sabbath. In the future it will become increasingly difficult and so plans should be made now for times such as those that await us. Also, I learnt more about myself from hidden triggers which have the potential to cause compromise.

We need to continue to watch the state of the world and the state of our spiritual and physical lives carefully so that no matter the circumstance, we rise to the occasion by resisting and overcoming what may feel or look good to what would please our heavenly Father in faithful obedience (Revelation 3:12; 3:21; 21:7). We need to simplify our lives. In addition to keeping the Sabbath day holy we need to do good even on the Sabbath just like the many examples in the bible found in the gospels of Jesus Christ showing us the way. (Matthew 12:12)