By Guihui
I was once an atheist and materialist. I did everything by relying on my own two eyes and using science as the basis. In my belief, I believed in nothing but money, much less did I believe that there is a God in this world. It was not until I faced parting forever that I understood that money cannot save our life and that seeing is believing is purely a fallacy.
One day, two sisters came to preach the gospel to my wife and I. My wife accepted it while I refused. Before they left, they gave me a book and told me to read it more. For the sake of saving face, I just said “Hmm” casually and didn’t say much more. A few days later, they came to preach the gospel to me again. I became somewhat impatient, so I said before they started to speak, “If people want to live a good life, they must strive hard to earn more money by their own industrious working, wisdom and ability. Can I have money if I believe in God? Isn’t that a pie in the sky? Why are you so serious? Don’t come again.” Seeing my attitude was obstinate, they could no longer say anything. After that, my wife often said that God exists and asked me to believe in God but I always argued with her and told her, “I don’t mind your believing in God, but don’t ask me to do that. I won’t do that. I only believe in money and science.” However, in my heart, I didn’t understand why these people firmly believe that there is a God in the world.
One day, my wife was not at home. I felt very bored, then I remembered the book left by the two sisters. I thought to myself: Although I accepted that book, I have yet to read it. I don’t know what it talks about inside. Anyway, I have nothing to do and feel bored. It would be better to read it. Then I read it, “With Me, everything shall be steady and secure; with Me, all shall be done appropriately and properly, without consuming the slightest effort. I speak and it is established; I speak and it is done” (“The Seventy-fifth Utterance”). “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 guiding us on the whole earth. We shall often be close to Him, and come before Him in quietness; never shall we miss a single moment, and there are things to learn at all times. The environment around us as well as the people, matters and objects, all are permitted by His throne. Do not have a complaining heart, or God will not bestow His grace upon you. When sickness happens it is due to God’s love and His good intentions are surely behind it. Even when your body endures suffering, take no ideas from Satan. Praise God in the midst of illness and enjoy God in the midst of your praise. Do not lose heart in the face of illness, keep seeking and never give up, and God shall shine His light to you. How faithful was Job? Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! To dwell in sickness is to be sick, but to dwell in the spirit is to be well. If you have but one breath, God will not let you die” (“The Sixth Utterance”). After reading these words, I said to myself, “If these words are true, then our country will not need to establish the hospital and we will not die. It seems too good to be true.” Afterward, I still held on to my view, and I didn’t believe there is a God.
In the blink of an eye, two years had passed. One day, my wife coughed badly, spat a mouthful of blood and said she was very uncomfortable inside. Seeing my wife being like this, I was very worried and anxious because I thought spitting up blood was not a good omen. Thus, I right away contacted my relative who worked in the Provincial Communist Party and asked him to help us arrange for a hospital to see a doctor. Under my relative’s arrangements, we went to the Pulmonary Hospital in the city. Through the specialist’s examination, my wife was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer. When I heard this bad news, my entire body felt limp and weak and I felt like the sky was about to fall, thinking: My wife is always in good health, but how could she suffer from lung cancer all of a sudden and moreover it be terminal? I really couldn’t accept this fact. My relative also couldn’t dare to believe that it would be such a result, so he invited other hospital’s famous specialists to come to this hospital to hold a consultation together. Finally, these specialists all diagnosed her illness with late-stage lung cancer and said the only way was to perform an operation but the success rate was very low. Hearing this, I felt very desperate and suddenly sensed that our human life is actually so fragile. I had thought that as long as I had money, I could get everything. But I never thought that when I faced the cancer my wife suffered from, although I had savings I obtained in my lifetime, it couldn’t perform any function. No matter how much money I had, it couldn’t save my wife’s life and no matter how advanced the science was, it couldn’t cure my wife. I lived in helplessness and pain. I didn’t know what I should do. Hearing the surgery had a fairly low success rate, my wife didn’t agree to perform the operation. Besides, my relative didn’t want to take a risk and I also didn’t want my wife to part from me early. So, we listened to her. We decided to go home after having a checkup again the next day.
Night drew on. At that time, I felt so lonely and desolate and my mind was completely blank. That night was the most difficult night in my whole life. Therefore, I left the ward for a place under a tree in a little park. Looking at the quiet night sky, I lost control and started crying. Thinking to myself: These years, because my waist is not in good condition, my wife did everything both inside and outside of the house by herself; I didn’t let her enjoy the happiness not even a day; now not only is she suffering from cancer but also the cancer has already gotten to an advanced stage; how could I live the following days? I really couldn’t accept this cruel fact. I felt grief-stricken and I didn’t know how long I had cried. Suddenly, I remembered the words I saw in that book that time, “With Me, everything shall be steady and secure; with Me, all shall be done appropriately and properly, without consuming the slightest effort. I speak and it is established; I speak and it is done” (“The Seventy-fifth Utterance”). “Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! To dwell in sickness is to be sick, but to dwell in the spirit is to be well. If you have but one breath, God will not let you die” (“The Sixth Utterance”). Thinking of these words, I got excited in an instant within my heart as if I grasped the opportunity of a lifetime. Looking at the expansive night sky, I couldn’t help but kneeling to the ground and praying to God, “Oh God! I’m so blind that I didn’t believe in You. Although I have read Your words, I didn’t believe in them. Today, my wife unexpectedly got ill. After examination, the doctor said she is suffering from late-stage lung cancer. Now, I have known that the doctors can’t cure her and her life also cannot be bought with money. Oh God! Only You can save her. I beg You to save her …” After praying, my heart was a bit calmer. I wiped my eyes and returned the ward. I saw my wife sitting by the sickbed, as if nothing had happened. Seeing my sad face, she said to me, “Have you forgotten that I am a believer in God? My life is in God’s hands. The doctors don’t have the final say. I’ll entrust my life and death into God’s hands and obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements. Don’t be too sad.” I nodded my head.
The next morning, after my wife had a blood test, we were all waiting for the results of laboratory test. In the afternoon, the doctors surprisingly told us that the results of the laboratory test was different from the last one. They also felt confused, so they checked it over and over and performed a bronchoscopy on her again. Through the test, a miracle appeared. The three laboratory tests showed that no cancer cells were found in her lungs. The doctors were all startled. A specialist said to my relative, “I have been a doctor for a lifetime but I have never seen such a miracle.” I, standing beside them, was immensely excited. I was very clear within my heart: These are God’s deeds! All I could do was to continue thanking and praising God in my heart, “Oh God! You are the true God. You are too almighty. It is You who cured my wife.” Later, my wife just received intravenous fluids to subdue inflammation for three days and then left hospital.
The second night after we arrived back home, 5 or 6 sisters came to my home to visit my wife. I received them warmly and told them the things that happened in the hospital one by one. After hearing our experience, they praised and thanked God in unison. I said in shame, “I’m very glad that you all came tonight. In the past, I was blind and crazy about money and didn’t treasure your kindness. You came to my home to preach the gospel to me many times but all I did was refuse. My heart was too hard and I was poisoned by atheism and materialism too deeply. Today, I don’t believe in these theories anymore. I am willing to believe in God and worship Him together with you all.” The sisters all nodded their heads happily.
The third day, the church arranged for me to attend meetings. In the meeting, I read God’s words, “Mankind does not know who is the Sovereign of all things in the universe, much less does he know the beginning and future of mankind. Mankind merely lives, perforce, amidst this law. None can escape it and none can change it, for among all things and in the heavens there is but One from everlasting to everlasting who holds sovereignty over everything. He is the One who has never been beheld by man, the One whom mankind has never known, in whose existence mankind has never believed, yet He is the One who breathed the breath into mankind’s ancestors and gave life to mankind. He is the One who supplies and nourishes mankind for its existence, and guides mankind up to the present day. Moreover, He and He alone is whom mankind depends on for its survival. … Regardless of whether you are able to recognize the deed of God, and irrespective of whether you believe in the existence of God, there is no doubt that your fate lies within the ordination of God, and there is no doubt that God will always hold sovereignty over all things. His existence and authority are not predicated upon whether or not they can be recognized and comprehended by man. Only He knows man’s past, present and future, and only He can determine the fate of mankind” (“Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst the Management of God”). Seeing God words that carry authority, I was very ashamed. I recalled that when the sisters came to preach the gospel to me, regardless of what they had said, I did not believe there is a God. Because I received atheistic education from my childhood, thus I never believed in God’s existence. I only believed that seeing is believing and only used science as the basis to do everything, thinking that people should pursue more money to live, believe in science and that as long as I had money, I could get everything. However, facing my wife’s terminal disease, although I could help her find the best doctor and use the most advanced medical equipment with my money, they seemed so feeble before cancer and couldn’t save her life at all. At my most painful and helpless time, these things I pursued and believed in couldn’t help me solve my actual problems; instead, it was God who gave me a new hope and let me clearly see that everything is in God’s hands.
Now, I came to understand: God controls all things in the universe. He bestows upon us all things necessary for survival and even the air we breathe is from God. No matter how much money we have, it cannot buy a breath of us; no matter how advanced the science is or how superb the medical skills are, they can’t save our lives, because only God, the Ruler of all things can bestow upon us life. Regardless of whether we believe there is a God in the world or not, God’s existence is unquestionable. But I have always refused to accept God’s work; the opinions and views I have held on to all come from the atheist education and are Satan’s evil schemes. Satan took use of knowledge and money to possess my heart and control my mind, forcing me to follow it, to deny the existence of true God and reject God’s salvation. Satan is really sinister! Thank God for His mercy and love. That night when I was in my most painful and depressed state, it was God who cured my wife’s cancer. This made me personally experience the power of God’s word, see God’s authority is unique and that God is too almighty, and too practical!
After experiencing my wife’s illness being cured, I turned around my wrong view of life in the past, and transformed myself from an atheist and materialist into a true Christian. I gave thanks to God for His love and salvation! Not long after, both my wife and I fulfilled our duty as a creature. I am willing to be faithful to perform my duty to repay God’s great love. All the glory be to God!
