Without God’s Salvation, I Would Not Be Here Today
Zhang Jin, Beijing
August 16, 2012
I am an elder sister with two faulty legs. Even when the weather is nice out, I have some trouble walking, but when the floodwaters were about to swallow me up, God allowed me to miraculously escape danger.
It was July 21, 2012. That day a torrential rain fell, and I just happened to be out fulfilling my duty. After 4:00 p.m., the rain still hadn’t stopped. When our meeting was finished, I braved the rain and took a bus home. During the ride, it rained harder and harder, and when the bus got to the stop just before mine, the driver told all of us passengers, “This bus can’t go any further; the road has collapsed up ahead.” There was nothing that could be done, so I had no choice but to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way. Not daring to leave God, I was continuously praying in my heart. Due to the force of the deluge, the water had completely swallowed up the road. I tried to proceed by holding onto the cement pillars lining the road, making my way forward one step at a time. Just then, I heard someone shouting behind me, “Stop moving forward! Quick; turn around and come back! You can’t get through; that water is deep and the current is too fast. If it washes you away, I won’t be able to save you!” By then, however, I could neither go forward nor retreat, because the water was already up to my chest. I did not dare to go any further, so all I could do was pray to God and implore Him to open up a way out for me: “God! You have permitted this environment to befall me, and whether I live or die is in Your hands now. If the water level were to fall just half a foot, I could continue walking forward. God, do as You will; I am willing to entrust my life to You!” After making this prayer, I felt very calm and composed. I recalled one of God’s utterances: “The heavens and earth and all things are established and made complete by the words of My mouth and with Me anything can be accomplished” (Utterances and Testimonies of Christ in the Beginning). God’s words gave me faith and courage. Since the heavens and earth and all things are in God’s hands, I knew that no matter how ruthless that deluge was, it could not escape God’s orchestration. No one could be relied on anymore; my son, my daughter … no one could take care of each other. I believed that as long as I relied on God, there was no difficulty I could not surpass. Right at that moment, a miracle happened. The current got slower and slower until it was no longer as fierce as it had been a moment earlier, and the cement columns lining the road were gradually revealed. Sure enough, the water level receded half a foot from chest level on me. And just like that, I walked out of there, step by step, under God’s guidance. Had it not been for God’s benevolence and protection, I do not know where the flood would have taken me. From the depths of my heart, I expressed my gratitude and praise, thanking Almighty God for giving me a second chance at life.
Later, I heard my son’s description of the rains: That day, after coming home from fulfilling his duty, he went to the toilet first. No sooner had he come out of the toilet and returned to his room than he heard a loud crash outside. When he went outside to have a look, he saw that the entire toilet building had completely collapsed under the water. Were it not for God’s protection, he would have died. It was exactly as God said in one of His utterances: “any and all things, living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear according to God’s thoughts” (“God Is the Source of Man’s Life” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). The extreme excitement I felt in my heart truly cannot be expressed in words.
Through these two incidents, my faith has become even more steadfast. That day, God had allowed me to survive calamity exactly to allow me to give testimony for Him. I cannot ignore my conscience. When I look back on how selfish, mean, and self-righteous I normally used to be while fulfilling my duty, I realize I did not at all feel God’s sense of urgency or share God’s thoughts. From now on, I wish to repent and change. I will use my own personal experiences to bring more people before God, and play my part in the work of spreading the gospel.
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