By Xiaoqing, China
Terrible news suddenly arrived.
One early morning in the fall of 2012, it was gloomy and a chill wind was blowing, which indicated that there would be rain very soon.
On the flat platform in a farmyard, Lanzhi was busily and skillfully collecting the corn.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! “Sister-in-law, open the door!” An urgent knock on the door made Lanzhi jump, and from the voice she knew it was her brother-in-law’s wife Yumei. Lanzhi murmured: “It’s early in the morning; how come she is so anxious?”
“Okay, I’m coming!” Lanzhi responded, putting down the farm tools, and hurrying downstairs to open the door.
“What’s up? It’s very early,” Lanzhi said and opened the yard door.
“Hurry! Hurry! We have to go to the hospital! Something is wrong!” gasped her sister-in-law, looking very upset.
“Go to the hospital? Why? And what’s up?” Lanzhi was thrown into confusion by what her sister-in-law was saying.
“Just take it easy and tell me what happened,” asked Lanzhi.
Yumei took Lanzhi’s hand and said with anxiety and nervousness, “My brother (Lanzhi’s husband) had an accident in the coal mine. He is seriously injured!”
“What?” Lanzhi said in shock, feeling as if the sky had fallen.
Years before her former husband Hai had died in a mine accident and later she married Jun. That day Jun had met with the same type of accident. Would he die like Hai? Immediately, Hai’s bleeding body and how he looked when he took his final breaths arose in her mind. Would Jun be the same? Lanzhi didn’t dare to think further. All she wanted to do was hurry to the hospital to see how Jun was. But her legs wouldn’t respond. They felt weak, as if without the strength to sustain her overburdened heart, and her whole body was near to collapse.
Her sister-in-law held her up in time and helped her into the hired taxi. Then the driver sped away toward the hospital.
In her misery, God was the only reliance.
In the cramped space of the taxi, Lanzhi’s sister-in-law sat next to her and comforted her. But what her sister-in-law was saying didn’t catch her attention. She could only clearly feel that her heart was thumping violently, together with her nervousness, worry, fear, and perplexity. She could hardly imagine what she would face next.
As they got closer to the hospital, Lanzhi became ever more panic-stricken.
At a loss, Lanzhi thought of God, who she knew was her only reliance at this moment. “O God! Today, this misfortune has suddenly come upon me and I don’t understand Your will. But I’m willing to deliver my husband into Your hands. I’m willing to submit to Your orchestration and arrangement.” Lanzhi prayed silently to God with all her heart. After that, the panic in her heart eased off a little and she had some peace of mind.
When Lanzhi reached the emergency room, she found Jun lying on the hospital bed motionless. Since all his clothes had been cut away by the doctor, she could plainly see that he was wounded in the face, ear, waist, and belly, with some pieces of coal still stuck in his flesh; he was covered in blood all over.
The scene before her eyes came as a shock to her, even though her heart had just grown calm. At that time, the loss of her former husband Hai constantly appeared in her mind. “Will Jun die in the same way?” she thought. One terrible experience had been devastating enough to her; a second one would really break her heart. She couldn’t bear such a cruel blow, and tears flooded her eyes. She was close to breaking down. She couldn’t imagine how she and her young child could continue to live if Jun lost his life.
In great agony, Lanzhi remembered God again. She knew that only God could heal the wounds in her heart and give her support.
Lanzhi prayed to God in silence: “O God! Seeing this, I’m afraid and heartbroken. I’m afraid that Jun will die and I don’t know whether I can bear the blow. God, I’m upset. I don’t know what to do or how to pray in this situation. May You protect my heart and give me confidence and strength so that I will not complain and will stand testimony for You.” Right after the prayer, she realized that the One she believes in is the almighty God, who holds sovereignty over everything. For God said: “Almighty God, the Head of all things, wields His kingly power from His throne. He rules over the universe and all things, and He is in the act of guiding us on the whole earth. We shall at every moment be close to Him, and come before Him in quietness, never missing a single moment, and with lessons for us to learn at all times.”God’s words granted her confidence, allowing her to understand that it is God who rules over everyone’s fate. Although Jun was still in a coma, whether he could wake up or not was in God’s hands. So she should commit Jun to Him. With this thought, Lanzhi was not that upset and calmed down.
A miracle happened.
Just at that time, the doctor said to her, “So many people have tried to wake him up. It seems that he has little hope of survival. Try and see if you can do it.”
The doctor’s words interrupted Lanzhi’s thoughts. She wiped away her tears and walked up to Jun. Looking at her badly mangled husband, she trembled in her heart and couldn’t help but weep again.
“Sister-in-law, don’t cry. Call to my brother,” said Yumei, standing aside. Looking at Lanzhi’s miserable expression, she also shed tears freely.
Lanzhi quickly wiped away all the tears from her own face and bent forward, urgently and eagerly calling Jun’s name, again and again. She desperately wanted that Jun could hear her calling him and wake up from the coma.
“His finger is moving. Hurry! Call him again! Again!” said the doctor with surprise when seeing Jun’s slight movement.
“Has Jun really heard me?” In Lanzhi’s mind there was a trace of joy, then a little doubt, and most of all, hope. Then she called with a half-crying voice: “Jun! Jun! Wake up! Wake up! I’m Lanzhi. I’m Lanzhi.”
A teardrop mingled with blood slid down from the corner of Jun’s closed eye. Upon seeing that, Lanzhi wept with excitement. Jun had heard her. It was true that he had heard her call his name.
Jun slowly opened his eyes. “Where am I?” he uttered in a feeble voice.
At the sight of Jun waking up, all the people in the room couldn’t help but exclaim: “What a miracle!” “It’s unbelievable.” “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it’s true.”
At that moment, Lanzhi smiled through her tears. Not only did she feel excited and overjoyed when Jun woke up, but she was filled with gratitude to God as well. She knew that the reason Jun could hear her call his name and come out of the coma was that God had listened to her prayer in secret.
Her husband’s condition was still unpredictable.
“Please come with me, madam,” the doctor came up and spoke to Lanzhi in a quiet voice.
“Don’t be over-optimistic now. He is awake, but he hasn’t passed through the critical period. After all, he was injured in a mine blast. Look, this X-ray shows that he has many severe wounds. In particular, his clavicle has been blown to pieces. If the pieces of bone get into his lungs, he could lose his life anytime. Only if he passes through the critical period of seven days will his chance of survival be a little better.”
Before the doctor spoke with such a serious look on his face, Lanzhi had felt glad about her husband being able to wake up. But now she sank into panic, worry, and fear again. The doctor’s words about Jun losing his life anytime kept echoing in her ears. The more she thought about it, the sadder she got. And tears welled up in her eyes again. In despair, she called out to God another time, because she knew that only God could help her.
God protected her husband through the critical seven days.
After silent prayer, Lanzhi’s heart grew a lot calmer. And she thought: “When I first got here, my husband was still in a coma. Neither the doctor, the chief of the coal mine or my family members could wake him up. They said he was without hope. However, when I cried out to God, God heard my prayers. Under His dominion and sovereignty, hasn’t my husband been woken up? The doctor said that only after my husband got through the critical seven days might he be a little safer. This is what a man said. But human words can’t decide anything, only God’s words can, because human breath is given by God and our life and death is in God’s hands. If God decides to take away my husband’s life, he won’t survive the seven days; if God does not, he won’t die even if he has to get through ten times seven days. In the past, when my former husband Hai lost his life in a mine accident, I didn’t believe in God and had nothing to rely on. Today I believe in God and God is my reliance, my strong rear guard; is there anything to be afraid of?”
With this understanding in mind, she was not that panic-stricken. She saw that her faith in God was really too small to be tested by facts. She was always worried that Jun would die from an accident like Hai. That day she didn’t care anymore and entrusted Jun to God for Him to make arrangements, because Jun was also created by God and his breath also comes from God. No matter whether God would take away his breath or not, she was willing to obey. With such a resolution, Lanzhi felt more secure in her heart and was not as miserable as previously.
In the following seven days, Lanzhi did her best to take care of Jun. Because Jun couldn’t eat due to his serious injuries, Lanzhi could only wet his lips with a swab and clean his wounds with a wet towel at intervals. Every time when she swabbed Jun’s wounds, the sight of him crying with pain wrenched at her heart. But Lanzhi was clear that she couldn’t really help him—only God could. In her heart, she told God that she was willing to commit Jun to Him, and that all she could do was her duty of attending to him. Almost without knowing it, she and Jun passed through the critical seven days under the leadership and care and protection of God. Lanzhi was grateful to God for His company.
Seeing God’s Wonderful Deeds Once More
This serious situation was closely followed by another one. Seven days later, the doctor needed to operate on Jun, before which Lanzhi was asked to sign the consent form. The doctor said: “Your husband’s clavicle is badly broken and the bone pieces have to be put together. So the operation will be difficult and long. We’re afraid that your husband will go into a coma and maybe die from the pain of the long operation. If that occurs, we won’t take responsibility. So we won’t dare to start the operation until you sign.” The doctor’s solemn words seemed like a warning to Lanzhi that Jun was still in danger of death during the operation. She inevitably felt sort of worried. Yet through praying to God and recalling all that had happened earlier, she saw the omnipotence and dominion of God. So she regained her faith in God and in the end signed her name on the form.
Several doctors busied themselves lifting Jun onto a trolley and wheeled him into the operating room. Above the top of its door the light turned red.
Lanzhi couldn’t help getting nervous. Sitting on a chair in the corridor, she prayed to God frequently with all her heart. She recollected how God had led her step by step: When she was in weakness and helplessness, it was God’s words that enlightened and guided her, giving her confidence as she experienced this crisis. When she sincerely relied on God, she saw some of God’s wonderful deeds. Just as when Jun was sent to the hospital and the people present all said that he was without hope, didn’t he still come to life under the protection of God? As for the critical seven day period spoken of by the doctor, wasn’t it God who took Jun through it? Pondering all that God had done for her husband, Lanzhi thought: “Today I should believe that God can pull Jun back from the brink of death. Even if Jun doesn’t escape from death, I can’t deny the omnipotence and dominion of God. His life span is predetermined by God and I’m willing to accept and submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements.” Then Lanzhi noticed a kind of power in her heart that dispelled her misery and anxiety. She no longer felt that time was passing slowly.
Finally, the doctor came out of the operating room. Seeing Lanzhi’s anxious look, he told her smilingly: “Don’t worry. The operation was very successful.”
Hearing this, Lanzhi couldn’t stop thanking God in her heart. She knew this was God’s deed—it was God who once again helped her and her husband out of difficulty.
Gratitude to God for His Company All the Way Through
Half a month after the operation, Jun had made a good recovery from his wounds. But as for another two miners—one had a broken arm and the other a broken clavicle—who had operations on the same day as Jun, their wounds were still badly swollen. Jun’s wounds were far more serious than theirs, yet his weren’t as swollen and were healing nicely. When the doctor making the rounds of the wards noticed this strong contrast he was amazed, and in the ward said to Lanzhi: “This is really a miracle! Their injuries are minor but the swelling still hasn’t gone down. Your husband was injured so seriously but has made such a quick recovery. That’s really incredible!”
Hearing what the doctor said, Lanzhi couldn’t help but brighten up, thinking to herself: “It’s owing to God’s wonderful deeds that my husband has been able to escape from death time and again. No human being could have such great power. Glory be to God!”
After twenty-eight days in hospital, Jun was discharged.
This experience was so imprinted on Lanzhi’s mind that she genuinely felt that God is accompanying us by our side at every moment and that as long as we sincerely trust in and rely on God, He will keep and care for us in secret, helping us through each and every adversity. This experience also allowed Lanzhi to practically know and taste the words of God. God’s words say: “It is not humanity that holds the power of life and death, not some being in the natural world, but the Creator, whose authority is unique. Mankind’s life and death are not the product of some law of the natural world, but a consequence of the sovereignty of the Creator’s authority.” The authority and power of God’s words were well and truly manifested through Jun. Not a single person can control his or her own life and death, nor can any doctor determine others’ life and death, because the power of our life and death is controlled by God. If God wants a man to live, no matter how many times he has reached the brink of death, he will still come to life safe and sound. If God predestines a man to die, no matter how much money he spends or how skillful his doctor is, his life cannot be saved. This is the symbol of the Creator’s unsurpassable authority.
Lanzhi was grateful to God for His company, encouragement, and comfort all the way through. She resolved to follow God earnestly in future and perform the duty of a created being to repay God’s love.
