By Liu Yang
His name is Zhaoyang, born in the 80s. Influenced and infected by the passionate love stories in the TV series, he believed it was the happiness of life that two people in love could live together through thick and thin and hold hands till they grow old. Zhaoyang fantasized: When I get married in the future, I must be like the hero in the affectional TV series, taking good care of the family, caring for and protecting my wife, and building a happy family with her.
Due to an Encounter, His Dream Comes True
By chance, Zhaoyang met Bing Yan. Although they hadn’t talked much, they had a good impression of each other. Their second meeting was at a friend’s wedding. Bing Yan was the bridesmaid that day. With light makeup, she was particularly beautiful in Zhaoyang’s eyes. At that moment Zhaoyang thought: How wonderful it would be if only Bing Yan and I were the bride and the bridegroom today! If I could marry Bing Yan, my life would be perfect!
Afterward, as Zhaoyang persisted in chasing after Bing Yan, they fell in love. But just as they were making wedding plans, they faced opposition from the relatives and family members of Zhaoyang, as well as those who knew them. They said to Zhaoyang, “You two don’t match. Bing Yan is too antisocial and has a bad temper. She does not even get along well with her own parents.” However, Zhaoyang, in disregard of persuasion by his friends and relatives, solemnly said, “I believe our love can stand the test of time. As long as I treat her with my true heart, I believe she will be moved even if she is a piece of ice.” They walked down the aisle to the altar just after having dated three months.
After Marriage, His Heart Is Injured
The days after marriage were neither as sweet as Zhaoyang had dreamed, nor as beautiful as the promises they had made in the beginning: to love one another and to be tolerant and forgiving! With their peaceful life barely lasting for two months, Bing Yan began to bicker with Zhaoyang over some trivial matters in life. When Zhaoyang occasionally said some words that did not please Bing Yan, she just sulked with him and would not even talk to him for several days, and sometimes she would stay at the net bar all day long without going home. Sometimes when Bing Yan had some trouble with her relatives and friends, she also vented her anger on Zhaoyang, which always made him feel bewildered. Bing Yan would not speak to anyone of the family as long as she got angry. Zhaoyang had to coax her and make compromises every time.
One day, when Zhaoyang came home from work, he found Bing Yan wasn’t at home and she didn’t prepare any food for him. And he could not get through to her either. At this moment, Zhaoyang felt very sad in his heart and thought: I wouldn’t blame her even if she did not help me with my work, I couldn’t even see her at home. And her phone was also turned off, I didn’t even know where to find her … Maybe she would come back later. Then he laid on the couch in the living room waiting for her and fell asleep unconsciously. It wasn’t until almost dawn that Bing Yan dragged her exhausted body back home. Flinging her bag onto the sofa, she walked directly to the bedroom without even giving Zhaoyang a look. Zhaoyang held back his anger with all his strength and asked, “Where did you go? Why didn’t you tell me? You also shut off the phone. I have been waiting for you for the whole night, but you don’t come back until now!” Bing Yan uttered coldly, “I went to an Internet café. I don’t like to be disturbed while playing games!” At this moment Zhaoyang could no longer hold back and said angrily, “Look at yourself! How skinny you are! You have been in poor health, but you still keep staying up so late like this. Don’t you want to have children in the future? Don’t you want to continue our life? From the beginning of our marriage until now, I have been taking care of you with all my heart, while you’ve been always displeased with me. I have no other requirements for you, but only hope we can talk more. Whatever grievances or requirements you have in your heart, you can talk to me. If I did something inappropriate, I will try my best to change.” As soon as Zhaoyang finished his words, Bing Yan shouted loudly, “Stop nagging! It’s none of your business!” She grabbed her phone and threw it to the ground hard as saying this. Zhaoyang was so mad that he blurted out, “You are so short-tempered. I can’t say anything about what you have done, and you even throw your stuff. I can’t live like this. Let’s divorce.” Zhaoyang regretted right after saying this, and he felt this might hurt Bing Yan. But at this time, nothing could be taken back. Bing Yan then packed a few pieces of clothing, and was about to go back to her parents’ house. No matter how Zhaoyang apologized to her, it was all in vain.
Bing Yan went back to her parents’ house and lived there for three months. Although Zhaoyang was already busy enough running the store, he went coax and persuade her again and again. Even so, Bing Yan’s indifferent heart could not be awakened. Zhaoyang’s patience and love did not win Bing Yan’s understanding, but on the contrary, she didn’t even say any word with him. In the following days, Bing Yan would turn off her phone and disappear for a few days just because of some trivial matters, and Zhaoyang could not find her anywhere. Every time when Zhaoyang returned home and saw the kitchen was so desolate, he felt this was totally not like a home. Zhaoyang was hurt so deeply, and he wept alone on many occasions during this period of time. He couldn’t figure out: Why did the love and marriage he had been dreaming for turn out to be like this? Why couldn’t so much efforts move her? Thinking of these, Zhaoyang became somewhat regretful and thought: If I followed my family and friends’ persuasion, my life would not be so tragic! Even the idea of “divorce” flashed in his mind, but he calmed down before long, thinking that since he had chosen Bing Yan, he would not give up even if there was a glimmer of hope.
With the Marriage Broken, His Dream Is Shattered
Such days lasted over one year. In July 2014, Bing Yan ran away from home to work in another city. A few days later, Bing Yan requested a divorce on the phone. Hearing the word “divorce,” Zhaoyang’s heart was completely broken! At this moment, time seemed to stop, and he felt so painful as if he was being pierced by countless arrows. He asked himself in his heart over and over again: How come I ultimately receive such result “divorce” after having treated her with my true heart? Still trying to restore their relationship, he said to her on the phone, “Have you forgotten our vows that we would never forsake each other? Will our marriage really come to an end?” But on the side of the phone, she said, “I’m sorry! I know you are good to me, but we have no common interests or hobbies. I really feel tired of this kind of life. Let’s part peacefully.” Zhaoyang once again tried to go back to her, but Bing Yan actually changed her phone number and QQ account. As such, Zhaoyang completely lost contact with Bingyan. He could not understand: All the way along, he had put so much effort into caring about Bing Yan, but why was she still so heartless?
The failure of marriage and the loss of business made Zhaoyang feel extremely painful. He felt that his life seemed to have come to an end, and he was like a boat losing its way in the sea, not knowing where to go from here on. He used to be vibrant, but now he became taciturn and depressed. His relatives and friends also looked at him strangely. He was unable to bear the pain of his heart, so he drank and went to Karaoke to anesthetize himself, thinking that this was the only way to temporarily alleviate the pain in his heart. But his heart got even more painful afterward. How many times he wanted to cry out loud, but there was no place where he felt right; how many times he wanted to find someone to talk with heart to heart, but there was no one who he could talk with. In the dead of night, the past scenes always came to his mind: He had put effort into longing for faithful love all along, but to no avail. In the end, his dream could not come true, but instead he had been tormented heavily because of it. At this time, Zhaoyang was bewildered and at a loss …
The Arrival of God’s Love Brings Him Light
Deeply in pain and helplessness, Zhaoyang returned home. His parents were so sorry seeing his sad and gaunt face. Then his father found a paragraph of God’s words and read to him, “Your temperament, caliber, appearance, and stature, your family into which you were born, your job, and your marriage—you in your entirety, even including the color of your hair and your skin, and your time of birth—were all arranged by My hands. I arranged by hand even the things you do and the people you meet every single day, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today was actually done by My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly.” And he said with concern to Zhaoyang, “Our whole life, including our birth, caliber, work, marriage, and so on, have been preordained by God long before and no one can escape from His arrangements. Just as the saying goes, ‘Whatever will be, will be.’ Don’t be sad anymore, just let it go! As for how to walk your way in the future, we cannot arrange for you. You cannot control it either. Since you were little, has anything ever happened as you hoped? Let nature take its course.” His father also told Zhaoyang his own rough experience in marriage. Hearing his father’s words, Zhaoyang seemed to have figured out something, then he nodded his head and a long-awaited smile emerged on his face! Zhaoyang thought: This is right. I have put effort into and strived for faithful love, but to no avail. My marriage and fate are really not controlled by myself, neither do I even know how to walk the path in the future, so that I don’t have the strength to struggle on. It’s just like God’s words saying that everything is under the orchestrations of God. Thinking of these, his heart was gradually opened.
He turned his head and eagerly looked at the book of God’s words in his father’s hand. His father said with a smile: “Come, you may read a paragraph of God’s words!” Zhaoyang took the book and began to read, “Humanity, having strayed from the Almighty’s provision of life, is ignorant of the purpose of existence, but fears death nonetheless. They are without help or support, yet still reluctant to close their eyes, and they steel themselves to drag out an ignoble existence in this world, sacks of flesh with no sense of their own souls. You live in this way, without hope, as do others, without aim. Only the Holy One of legend will save the people who, moaning in the midst of their suffering, long desperately for His arrival. So far, such belief has not been realized in those who lack consciousness. Nevertheless, the people still yearn for it so. The Almighty has mercy on these people who have suffered deeply; at the same time, He is fed up with these people who lack consciousness, as He has had to wait too long for an answer from humanity. He wishes to seek, to seek your heart and your spirit, to bring you water and food and to awaken you, that you may no longer be thirsty and hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel something of the bleak desolation of this world, do not be lost, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival at any time. He is keeping watch by your side, waiting for you to turn back around. He is waiting for the day you suddenly recover your memory: when you realize that you came from God, that, at some unknown time you lost your direction, at some unknown time you lost consciousness on the road, and at some unknown time acquired a ‘father’; when you realize, furthermore, that the Almighty has always been keeping watch, waiting there a very, very long time for your return.” The words of God flowed into Zhaoyang’s heart like a warm current and comforted his wounded heart like a loving mother. Zhaoyang cried at that moment. He felt God’s heart is so beautiful and kind! When he was in pain and helpless, God had always been watching over him, waiting for him to turn back. Reading God’s words, Zhaoyang felt that he, like a child who had been lost for many years, suddenly returned to his mother’s embrace. He was so warm and deeply touched.
In the following days, Zhaoyang was immersed in the happiness of the church life. Under the guidance of God’s love, he quickly integrated into this big family full of love. By reading God’s words and fellowshiping about the truth with brothers and sisters, his pain and distress in the heart were relieved in the end! Zhaoyang recalled the past: Although his marriage failed and he also suffered a lot, God has brought him before God promptly. He truly felt God’s salvation and compassion for him.
To Be Continued …
Part Two: How He Gained the Marriage He Yearned For (II)
