By Wang Feng, China

Whenever I see these words spoken by God, “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. So long as you still have one breath, God will not let you die.” I think of how in the past, though I had followed God for many years, I just verbally acknowledged that there is a God and understood the literal meaning of God’s words, and I wasn’t able to experience God’s words at all in real life and didn’t understand the meaning of God speaking these words either. It was not until after I personally experienced an unforgettable thing that I had a bit of understanding of the fact that the words of God are the truth, speak of the actual situation, and have authority and power.

That year, I went to the fields to water the corns; after that, it was still early so I began to pull the weeds. Just then, a snake about two meters suddenly came slithering out of the weeds, and bit ferociously deep into the fourth finger of my left hand, leaving two teeth marks. I instantly felt an unbearable pain, which was like a knife twisting in my heart. My finger bled constantly; I hurriedly pressed it with my hand but it didn’t work no matter what; soon, a pool of blood massed on the ground. I was very frightened, ran quickly to a tap and washed my finger with water but the blood just kept bleeding out. I was so petrified that I didn’t know what I should do next. Desperate, I called my husband on the phone in a hurry and he answered the phone and came immediately. Seeing my condition, he said nervously, “We must go to the hospital right away. Once the poison of the snake is spread, your life will be in danger.” I also felt extremely nervous and was afraid that I would be poisoned to death, so I called out to God in my heart, “O, Almighty God! I ask that You protect my heart so that I am not afraid or constrained by thoughts of death.” After praying, my heart calmed down and I recalled God’s words, “So long as you still have one breath, God will not let you die.” I thought, “Yes. My life and death are all controlled by the Creator. Only God can determine my fate. Whether I live or die, God has the final say. I cannot blindly live fearfully. I must pray and rely on God more.”

Afterward, my husband was driving me home on his electric scooter. When we were back at our front door I really couldn’t hold on, thus dazedly came off the electric scooter and fainted on the roadside. After that, my husband stopped and waved frantically on the road to try to stop a car to ask for help but no one was willing to stop to help us. In helplessness, he hastened to push the motorbike out and loaded me on the back of it with great difficulty. At that point, I slowly came to and had a bit of feeling in my body, but I was weak and feeble all over, and could only lean against his back. Then he rode the motorbike to the hospital as quickly as possible.

After we arrived at the hospital, a doctor gave me a glance and said, “She is in a serious condition. But we don’t have any antidote against snake-bites. Get her to the city hospital as soon as you can!” Hearing the doctor’s words, I thought, “The city hospital is so far. Even if we take the freeway, it will take more than two hours. Won’t I die on the way? If that is the case, I will leave my husband, my son still hasn’t even got married yet and my father is over 70, and who will care for them?” The more I thought about it, the more awful I felt. In the midst of my pain and hopelessness, I could only silently cry out to God in my heart, “The almighty, practical, and one true God. I encountered this situation today, but I don’t understand Your will. I ask You to lead me and guide me. I believe that all things are in Your hands. You are almighty and there is nothing You cannot do. Whether I can arrive at the city hospital alive this afternoon is in Your hands. I can only look to You and hand it over to You. Now I don’t even have enough strength to stand. May You give me faith and strength. Amen!” After praying, I slowly calmed down. My husband supported me out of the hospital, and happened to see a taxi stop outside. Then he hurriedly ran to the driver and greeted him, and who would have thought that the driver happened to be my husband’s middle school teacher. After learning about my situation, his teacher asked us to take a ride in his car and then sped away toward the city hospital. At that time, I trembled from head to toe, felt chilly and went into a coma again unknowingly. Not long after that, I heard my husband keep calling my name and then I gradually came to but I felt nauseous and was vomiting nonstop. About two hours later, we finally arrived at the city hospital, and it was dark then. My husband’s teacher hurried to get out of the taxi and went to do the various formalities for us. At that point, I was completely comatose. Upon seeing this, the doctors quickly wheeled me to the emergency room to treat me. After over two hours, I finally came round slowly. After finishing the operation, the doctor said to my husband and his teacher, “Generally speaking, the best time to treat a snakebite is within four hours of the bite. She was deeply poisoned but luckily she got here in time. If she had come any later, she would have been in danger. Judging from her present condition, although she is out of danger, it remains to be seen whether she will recover from it.”

After coming round, I felt very grateful and thanked God from the bottom of my heart. God’s words say, “So long as you still have one breath, God will not let you die.” Now I really realized the true meaning of the words. That I could survive was entirely due to God’s care and protection. Since I had been bitten by the snake, a whole afternoon had passed, and if it had not been for God’s care and protection, I would have died at my door. That I could be out of danger was God’s grace for me. God’s words say, “Who of the whole of mankind is not cared for in the eyes of the Almighty? Who does not live in the midst of the Almighty’s predestination? Does man’s life and death happen by his own choice? Does man control his own fate?” “Everything of this world swiftly changes with the Almighty’s thoughts and beneath His eyes. Things mankind has never heard of suddenly arrive, whereas things that mankind has long possessed unknowingly slip away. No one can fathom the Almighty’s whereabouts, much less can anyone sense the transcendence and greatness of the Almighty’s life force.” In the past, when I read these words, I verbally admitted that God’s words are the truth, but I didn’t understand the true significance of these words. Only through this experience did I have a taste that God’s words are absolutely true and are immutable truths, that all things, whether living or dead, are in God’s hands and are changing according to God’s thoughts, and that even though disasters befall us, they will not endanger our lives without God’s permission. From now on, I was willing to put all my effort into God’s words, pursue being someone who thirsts for the truth, and use my real actions to repay God’s love. Through this personal experience, I also truly understood that the power and authority of God’s word can surpass all of the forces of darkness, and are worth pursuing to know all my life.

After a week of treatment, I gradually got better but my left arm was still badly swollen. Seeing my arm, the doctor in charge said to me, “We’ve used all the medicine that we could, but the swelling hasn’t gone down. We’ve tried as hard as we can. If other parts of your body no longer feel any discomfort, you can get out of here any time you want to.” Hearing the doctor say this, I thought, “I’ve been injected with a serum but why is my arm still so badly swollen? Now I cannot even push it into the sleeve of my clothes, how will I live in the future? I need my husband to take care of me, and this way I will become a burden to him. When will days like this come to an end?”

Afterward, my husband and I returned home. Learning of my situation, my brother and his wife came to see me. Seeing that my left arm and hand were badly swollen, my sister-in-law said to me, “You have been hospitalized for treatment but why has the swelling not gone down? If you suffer from the after-effects, you’ll be unable to do work; by then, you will be maimed.” Hearing her words, I began to get afraid: Could it be that I would suffer from the after-effects? Would my arm even become disabled? In the evening, I prayed to God, “O God! Whether the swelling can go down and when my swollen arm will recover are in Your hands. I wish only to rely on You. May You keep my heart from blaming You, and lead me to learn to experience this situation. Amen!” After praying, my heart felt much more peaceful and at ease and I soon fell asleep. Early the next day, I got out of bed to discover that the swelling had gone down miraculously. I was so happy that I rushed to wake up my husband and said to him, “Look! My arm and hand have recovered!” Seeing this, my husband was astonished and said, “I never would have thought it! Great thanks be to God!” I also kept thanking God in my heart for treating me with such a special grace.

Afterward, I saw in God’s words, “Since the day man came into existence, God has ever worked thus, managing the universe, directing the rules of change for all things and the trajectory of their movement. Like all things, man is quietly and unknowingly nourished by the sweetness and rain and dew from God; like all things, man unknowingly lives beneath the orchestration of God’s hand. Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, everything of his life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. Such is the way in which God presides over all things.” From God’s words I saw that only God dominates all, that all beings are beheld in His eyes, and that all things, whether living or dead, are orchestrated and arranged by Him, and are within His hands. As I recall this experience, I know that, after I was bitten by the snake, that I could survive and that my swollen arm could recover really were God’s wonderful deeds. Through experiencing His wonderful deeds, I also had a true belief in His words, and understood that only God is my backer, my refuge and my help at need. Hereafter, I will believe in God and pursue the truth even more properly, and fulfill my duty well as one of God’s creatures to repay God’s love. May all the glory go to  God! Amen!