By Qiu He
I continued reading and read these words of God: “One encounters many people in one’s life, but no one knows who will become one’s partner in marriage. Though everyone has their own ideas and personal stances on the subject of marriage, no one can foresee who will truly, finally become their other half, and one’s own ideas on the matter count for little. After meeting someone you like, you can pursue that person; but whether they are interested in you, whether they are able to become your partner—that is not yours to decide. … Whether marriage itself brings happiness or pain, everyone’s mission in marriage is predestined by the Creator and will not change; this mission is something that everyone must complete. The fate of each person that lies behind every marriage is unchanging, determined long in advance by the Creator. … A marriage is not the product of both members’ families, the circumstances in which they grew up, their appearances, their ages, their qualities, their talents, or any other factors; rather, it arises from a shared mission and a related fate. This is the origin of marriage, a product of human fate orchestrated and arranged by the Creator” (“God Himself, the Unique III”).
God’s words enlightened me. I had met several girls in Japan but things never worked out. After suffering several setbacks, I assumed that I would not find my partner in Japan and that maybe things would change if I left this place. I believed I would find a life partner because I had good caliber and personal conditions, but whether I marry or not is actually predestined by the Creator. It doesn’t matter what my personal conditions are, for it is God that dictates whether I’ll get married. If I continue to look for external causes and plan by myself, I will still be opposing God’s sovereignty, and in the end I will gain nothing but increasing vexation and pain. God says: “Since the creation of the world, I have begun to predestine and select this group of people—namely, you of today. 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.” God has already predestined and arranged my life, including my partner, my future, and my final destination. I don’t need to be bothered by it all anymore. I should obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements.
At that moment, I gained some knowledge of God’s sovereignty and arrangements, but I had already handed in my resignation to the company and promised my relatives in the U.S. that I would go to America. I had got a job in America too. Everything was going as I had planned.
One day, I saw that the words of God said: “So when people recognize God’s sovereignty over human fate, the clever ones choose to know it and accept it, to bid farewell to the painful days when they tried to build a good life with their own two hands, and to stop struggling against fate and pursuing their so-called ‘life goals’ in their own way” (“God Himself, the Unique III”). These words gave me the idea that I should not go to the U.S. It was because of the failure in love that I wanted to leave Japan for the U.S. I was hoping that my life would change in the U.S. and that I would find the right one for me. But then I understood that my marriage is in God’s hands, not mine.
However, I had to make a choice, and I was still struggling and hesitant: Should I stay in Japan or go to the U.S.? I couldn’t decide, so I told the brothers and sisters about my problem. They told me, “Pray and seek God in everything. Let God take charge of your life.” Later, I understood God’s will through praying, and made the final decision.
On the third day after I prayed to God, I heard Sister Ma share some of her experiences. There was a sister living in Italy who, because she didn’t know Italian well, was filled with regret that she couldn’t witness the last days’ work of God—the returned Lord Jesus—to an Italian Christian who yearned for and sought the truth. Sister Ma said she was touched by the essay about the sister’s experience and regretted that she couldn’t preach the gospel to Japanese people because she had paid little attention to learning Japanese. She felt guilty and indebted to God. Listening to her fellowshiping, I felt shame and indebted to God too. I understood Japanese, but I had never thought about staying in Japan to preach the gospel to Japanese people. All I thought about was seeking a good marriage in the U.S. However, I was wasting what God had prepared in me (my knowledge of Japanese).
At that time, I couldn’t help but think of God’s utterances: “Are you aware of the burden on your shoulders, your commission, and your responsibility? Where is your sense of historic mission? How will you adequately serve as a master in the next age? Do you have a strong sense of masterhood? … How many people are waiting for you to be their shepherd? Is your task a heavy one? They are poor, pitiable, blind, and at a loss, wailing in the darkness—where is the way? How they yearn for the light, like a shooting star, to suddenly descend and dispel the forces of darkness that have oppressed man for so many years. Who can know the full extent to which they anxiously hope, and how they pine, day and night, for this? Even on a day when the light flashes past, these deeply suffering people remain imprisoned in a dark dungeon without hope of release; when will they weep no longer? Terrible is the misfortune of these fragile spirits who have never been granted rest, and long have they been kept bound in this state by merciless bonds and frozen history. And who has heard the sound of their wailing? Who has looked upon their miserable state? Has it ever occurred to you how grieved and anxious God’s heart is? How can He bear to see innocent mankind, whom He created with His own hands, suffering such torment? Human beings, after all, are the victims who have been poisoned. And although man has survived to this day, who would have known that mankind has long been poisoned by the evil one? Have you forgotten that you are one of the victims? Are you not willing to strive, out of your love for God, to save these survivors? Are you not willing to devote all of your energy to repaying God, who loves mankind like His own flesh and blood?” (“How Should You Attend to Your Future Mission”).
God has grieved and been anxious for innocent people since they were corrupted by Satan. At present, God has come to save those who are in grave trouble. More people are needed to preach the gospel so that those still living in darkness can return before God. Japanese people have been busy all their lives just trying to survive. Some are still working even in their seventies or eighties. Many old people, with no one to take care of them, die alone in their houses without being noticed until their bodies begin to stink. Some young people commit suicide by throwing themselves under trains because they can’t stand the immense work pressure …. Wasn’t it the brothers’ and sisters’ preaching that brought me before God so that I received His salvation? The work of God today is a crucial part in the last stage of work in His management plan. Only those who accept the work of God have the opportunity to be saved and enter the kingdom of God. I followed my grandmother and became a Catholic in my childhood, and now I’ve welcomed the return of the Lord. I am so blessed, but I never think about doing something for God. So I told myself: “Never be ungrateful! Never live only for a good marriage! Live for God so as to not live this life in vain.” Then I decided to stay in Japan instead of going to the U.S.
From then on, I spent all my spare time reading God’s words, listening to the fellowshiping and hymns of God’s words, as well as watching gospel movies. I got together with the brothers and sisters every week. Gradually, I began to cooperate with the brothers and sisters in preaching the gospel to witness for God.
Thinking back to what I have experienced along the way, I’m grateful to God. He made me know that one’s marriage is in His hands and fate cannot be changed by one’s efforts or personal conditions. What kind of life partner one will meet, whom one will love, and whom one will be loved by, have all long been predestined by God. Now I have made a correct decision about marriage—obeying God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and proceeding calmly. No matter whether God has prepared a good life companion for me or not, I will never complain nor struggle, but will obey and wait for God’s arrangements. All I want now is to contribute my effort to spreading the gospel of the kingdom of God and pursue to live a meaningful life. Thanks be to God! All the authority, glory, and praise be to God forever and ever! Amen!
The End.
Part One: Marriage No Longer Troubled Me (I)
