When her son was in serious illness, God’s words comforted her.
Lin Xin was walking home after dealing with something. The crops on both sides of the road bathed in the sunshine and looked like a green sea. The wild flowers along the roads were waving and dancing in the wind. However, Lin Xin had no heart to appreciate the beautiful scenery in the countryside. It was because her daughter-in-law had said several times that her son, Binbin, had a headache and vomited, which seemed not to be a common illness. That day, her son went to the provincial hospital for an examination. She couldn’t wait to know the result of the examination, so she quickened her pace and headed for her home.
On arriving home, she saw that her families were all depressed. With an ominous feeling, she hurriedly asked, “What is the result of the examination?” Her husband was smoking, and after a pause, answered wanly, “The doctor said that there is a tumor in his head. He has got brain cancer. The doctor advised that he go to a big hospital for an operation.” After hearing this, Lin Xin couldn’t help feeling panicked, thinking: “A tumor in his head? How did this come about? Cancer is an incurable disease.” The more she thought about it, the more scared she felt, thinking: “My son is only 29 years old; if the illness can’t be cured, how will our whole family live?” She didn’t dare to continue thinking, living in great suffering and feeling very depressed and helpless. Then she silently prayed to God, “Oh, God! Hearing that my son’s illness is very serious, I’m very sad and also afraid to lose him. I beg You to keep my heart quiet before You. May You lead me to walk my future path.” After prayer, she thought of a verse of God’s words. “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.” God’s words gave her faith and strength. She thought: “That’s right. God is almighty, so what do I have to fear? My son’s fate is in God’s hands. Whether he is alive or dead is determined by God.” Thereupon, she prayed to God again, “Oh, God! May You protect my heart, so that I can obey Your arrangement regardless of whether my son gets better or not.” After prayer, she was not as afraid as before, and her heart gradually calmed down.
The moment her son’s illness worsened, her desires were revealed.
The second day, Lin Xin’s husband took their son to the provincial hospital for a second examination, hoping against hope that their son’s illness was not serious. However, the doctor said that the tumor in her son’s head had spread into the shape of a spiderweb so that there was no way to do the craniotomy, and also said that maybe her son could only survive for two months. When Lin Xin learned about her son’s condition and thought that her son was about to leave her and depart from this world at such a young age, she couldn’t stop her tears from flowing and started to complain against and misunderstand God. She thought to herself: Why did God not protect my son? How come my son has suffered such a serious illness? If he passed away, what should I do? … She wept every day and had no words to say when praying to God. She also had no heart to read God’s words, and even didn’t want to perform her duty.
Just as Lin Xin felt lost, two sisters came to visit her. They read two passages of God’s words to her, “Do not lose heart in the face of illness, keep seeking and never give up, and God shall shine His light on you. How faithful was Job?” One of them communicated: “It is normal that you’re weak and pained in your heart when faced with your son’s illness, but at this point, you should especially pray to and rely on God more to seek the truth. Behind such an environment there is actually a spiritual battle; that is to say, Satan is wagering with God. If we complain against and misunderstand God, then we exactly fall into Satan’s temptation and lose God’s testimony. Let’s look at Job’s experience: When instantly losing his children and a mountain of cattle and sheep, Job didn’t sin with his lips, nor did he complain about God. Furthermore, he could praise the holy name of Jehovah God in the end. It was because he knew that all he possessed was bestowed upon him by God. Our children are also bestowed by God, and whether they gain blessings or suffer catastrophe, we should accept from God.” After hearing the sister’s fellowship, Lin Xin understood God’s will, knowing that God hoped she could obey God’s arrangement and stand witness to God like Job, and would never make complaints regardless of how her son’s illness was. Nevertheless, she was still worried about her son’s illness. The sisters read another passage of God’s words, which said, “How many believe in Me only so I would heal them? How many believe in Me only so I would use My powers to drive unclean spirits out of their bodies? And how many believe in Me simply to receive peace and joy from Me? How many believe in Me only to demand from Me more material wealth, and how many believe in Me just to spend this life in safety and to be safe and sound in the world to come? How many believe in Me only to avoid the suffering of hell and to receive the blessings of heaven? How many believe in Me only for temporary comfort but do not seek to gain anything in the world to come?” After hearing these words, she felt ashamed in her heart. She said to herself: In believing in God, I only wanted to receive blessings and benefits from God but didn’t have a sincere heart to God. I thanked God’s grace and testified about God’s love when my family was peaceful; however, when my son got ill, I started to misunderstand and complain against God. It could be seen that my belief in God was a transaction with God and that there were too many impurities in my faith. Through this environment, God has revealed my rebelliousness and corruption and let me realize my own mistaken views of pursuit.
Lin Xin saw more of God’s words, “It is the belief in God so that you may obey God, love God, and perform the duty that should be performed by a creature of God. This is the aim of believing in God. You must achieve a knowledge of the loveliness of God, of how worthy God is of reverence, of how, in His creatures, God does the work of salvation and making them perfect—this is the minimum that you should possess in your belief in God. Belief in God is principally the switch from a life in the flesh to a life of loving God, from a life within naturalness to a life within the being of God, it is coming out from under the domain of Satan and living under the care and protection of God, it is being able to achieve obedience to God and not obedience to the flesh, it is allowing God to gain your entire heart, allowing God to make you perfect, and freeing yourself from the corrupt satanic disposition. Belief in God is principally so that the power and glory of God may be manifested in you, so that you may carry out God’s will, and accomplish God’s plan, and be able to bear testimony to God before Satan.” After reading God’s words, Lin Xin realized that since she started believing in God, she had enjoyed much provision and nourishment of God’s words, but she herself only knew to make demands of God, and what she thought had no obedience, and wasn’t approved by God. God’s words allowed her to have proper goals to pursue: Having faith in God, she should not seek blessings, but should seek to obey God and love God, to break away from Satan’s corrupt disposition, and to get rid of the desires for blessings, and should learn to seek God’s will to achieve obedience to God. In trials, Job stood witness for God before Satan so that Satan no longer accused Job. In the end, Job became a person who could worship God freely and he was approved by God. Nowadays, God has expressed so many truths in order that He can gain more people like Job. Lin Xin understood God’s intentions and resolved to emulate Job. Whether in the matter of her son’s illness or in her daily life, she would pursue to be a person obeying God and loving God and to be able to glorify and witness for God.
She learned to obey God and wait for God.
Lin Xin’s husband asked the doctor to do a craniotomy surgery to save their son even if there was only a ray of hope. Upon her husband’s repeated requests, the doctor let him sign off on the agreement. That day when her son underwent the operation, Lin Xin didn’t go to the hospital, but her heart couldn’t calm down at all. She was very anxious about her son’s operation, hoping that there could appear a miracle. At that moment, she realized that she still wanted God to cure her son’s illness and that she had no true obedience. Thereupon, Lin Xin again came before God and prayed: “Oh, God! I said that I would obey Your orchestrations and arrangements, but I still have requirements of You in my heart. I know that is not right. May You lead me to obey You.” After prayer, she saw God’s words say, “Job made no demands of God. What he demanded of himself was to wait for, accept, face, and obey all of the arrangements that came from God; Job believed this to be his duty, and it was precisely what was wanted by God.” Lin Xin saw that when God tried Job, he could accept and obey God’s arrangement, and didn’t have any requirements of God. Job’s such conscience and reason, and his personality of honesty and uprightness should be emulated by her. And she was willing to wait for and obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements for her like Job. She kneeled down and prayed to God: “Oh, God! I’m willing to accept this environment. Whatever the result of my son’s operation is, I’m willing to face and accept it.” After prayer, she was very calm inside and felt very released.
Sincerely obeying God, she saw God’s deeds.
Around four p.m. on that day, her daughter-in-law called her and said happily, “Mom, don’t worry. The doctor said that Binbin’s operation was very successful.” Hearing the good news, instantly, Lin Xin was moved to tears. She thought: Before, the doctor said that my son’s illness had been hopeless, but unexpectedly, the operation is very successful. This is utterly God’s protection. Lin Xin was full of gratitude and praise for God.
After a period of time, the doctor advised Binbin to have an overall examination, and then he was surprised at the result of the examination, saying, “The head recovers very well. It is really beyond my imagination …” What’s more, after finishing taking pills of chemotherapy for six months, her son went to the hospital for a re-examination and did a cerebral CT, and the result was that her son recovered well in all aspects. Lin Xin was grateful for God’s grace in her heart and thus she often testified to God’s deeds before her son. Hearing that, her son kept nodding.
Looking back, she felt God’s love is endless.
Time flew, and in a twinkling spring came again. Luxuriant plants made the land filled with life. Lin Xin was happily riding her electric scooter to perform her duty. Looking at the green scenery before her, she was especially at ease. It had been one year since her son underwent the operation. His body recovered and was better than it used to be. She truly experienced: Man’s life and death isn’t decided by doctors, nor can be fathomed by science, much less can be exchanged for familial affections and money. Only God is our Savior and the One we can depend on. Just as God’s words say, “It is not humanity that holds the power of life and death, not some being in the natural world, but the Creator, whose authority is unique. Mankind’s life and death are not the product of some law of the natural world, but a consequence of the sovereignty of the Creator’s authority.” Through her son’s illness, Lin Xin has gained some experience of God’s words and God’s authority and seen God’s wondrous deeds as well as God’s salvation for her. Through this thing, God revealed her impurities of making deals with God in believing in God, reversed her wrong view on believing in God, and made her establish a proper life perspective. She also came to know that as a created being of God, she should adhere to her duty: Whatever difficulties she encounters, she can’t complain against and misunderstand God; whatever happens to her, she should seek the truth and stand witness to satisfy God’s will. Now recalling one scene after another in the past, Lin Xin feels that she has gained too much from God and experienced that God’s love is endless.
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