By Xinlan
Editor’s Note:
Many people doubt whether God is in control of man’s life and death. Read this Christian’s perception of life and know God’s sovereignty from her husband’s experience of recovering from illness.
“Ring ring….” The hasty sound of the telephone spoiled the tranquility of my room, and the telephone message made my heart in turmoil. What was to come gave me a deep understanding that God has the final say on the life and death of man.
It was gone 5 a.m. on the morning of September 7, 2014, when my sister suddenly called and said, “Sister! Your husband is very sick now, he has been admitted to the hospital at one in the morning.” I didn’t believe her words and said, “He was totally fine when he phoned me just at eight last night. How is it possible that he got sick so suddenly?” My sister replied, “Just before he could finish the phone call last night, he was struck by the illness. It was his boss and workmates that rushed him to the hospital.” At her words, I recalled when my husband asked me to go to him over the phone but was refused by me, he didn’t say anything further. I had thought that he was angry at me, and it turned out that …
Without thinking of much else, I anxiously asked, “What was the diagnosis?” My sister said, “Cerebral infarction.” Hearing her words left me anxious to the point of tears. I thought: “My father contracted the same illness and immediately died when he fell ill. There is also my cousin’s wife. She has also been suffering from the disease and been unable to even walk for 15 years. My husband is just in his 40s; how could he contract such a serious illness? People who get this disease will either become dead or braindead. If something happens to my husband, what will I do?” At the thought of this, I felt limp and weak all over. Just then, I, who felt beyond help, recalled some of God’s words, “I am your rock, your backer.” These words gave me a timely reminder that God is the object of my faith and my strong support. As long as I relied on Him, there was no difficulty I could not surpass. Thereupon, I rushed to kneel down and pray to God, “O God! My husband has suddenly developed such a serious illness. I’m very scared, afraid that he will die or become braindead. O God! Only You can rule the life and death of my husband. I willingly entrust his life and death to Your hands and submit to Your orchestrations and arrangements.” After praying, I felt much calmer and was not as anxious as before.
After I arrived at the hospital, my sister said with a long face, “The doctor says that your husband has a cerebral infarction, and says we should prepare his final affairs or prepare ourselves for his being braindead.” When I heard this, I couldn’t help but feel panic rising inside me. I thought, “My husband is still young. If something really happens to him, how will my son and I survive in the future?” Just as I was weak and helpless, God’s words occurred to me, “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? Whose birth and death come from their own choices? Does man control his own fate?” God’s words gave me strength. The entire universe is under God’s rule, and the lives and deaths of mankind as well as our fates are all dominated by God. Therefore, God controls my husband’s life and death and He has the final say on them. It is no use no matter how much we worry. God is almighty; though my husband is critically ill now, if God doesn’t cause him to die, then he won’t. It’s not the doctors who determine if my husband can recover from his illness; it is God who has the final say on everything. At this thought, I silently called out to God, “O God! Please protect my heart so that I may be at peace before You. No matter whether my husband dies or lives, I’m willing to obey Your orchestrations and arrangements.” After the prayer, the anxiety in my heart gradually lessened a little.
Later, I entered the ward and saw my husband lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip and bottled oxygen, unmoving and unconscious. I squatted by the bed as I held on tightly to his hand to wake him, but no matter how I tried he didn’t react. Seeing him like that pained me and tears started falling down my face uncontrollably. At that moment, a doctor came in, and I then asked eagerly, “Doctor, what’s going on with my husband?” He replied, “His condition is critical. Whether he gets better or not depends on his luck.” What he said made me quite insecure. I thought, “Is there really no hope? Will he really leave me?” The more I thought about it, the more pained and miserable I felt. Thereupon, I silently prayed to God again, “O God! It’s Your decision whether my husband lives or dies. All I can do is entrust him to You. I ask that You give me faith and strength to continue experiencing this environment.” After the prayer, I read God’s words, “I wrest them from death so long as they have one breath left.” Through these words, I didn’t feel so anxious, because I knew that God gave us humans our very breath, and that if God didn’t allow us to die, then we wouldn’t. My husband’s life was granted by God, and if God wanted to save him from death, he would come back to life. God’s words enlightened my heart. With God beside me, my heart felt very peaceful and at ease. Later on, I remembered these words of God, “He has never left, nor has He vanished. Day and night, He is mankind’s constant companion.” As I weighed these words, I felt as if a current of warmth flew into my heart and that God was by my side and guiding me. This made me feel more secure and cared for. Since then, I had no misgivings in my heart.
Afterward, while I was taking care of my husband, once I felt weak, I would pray to and rely on God, and doing this gave me stability.
At past 3 p.m. on the afternoon of September 9, the doctor came to take my husband’s blood pressure and temperature. Seeing that my husband still was motionless, he said, “Even if he pulls through, he’ll suffer brain death.” As I listened to the doctor say this, my heart didn’t become weak as it had been two days before, because I believed that my husband’s life was held in God’s hands, and that whether he lived or died was not up to anyone but God Himself. Whatever the result, I was willing to obey. I believed that God is righteous.
To my surprise, after a while, I saw my husband’s finger move slightly. I was so happy and then hurriedly ran over to the doctor. But he said, “It must be psychological. You wish desperately that your husband can come back to life. It’s your imagination.” I spoke gravely to the doctor and said, “I am clear-headed. Just go and see.”
After the doctor entered the ward, my husband’s finger moved again. Seeing this, the doctor was amazed and said, “A miracle does appear.” He then immediately took my husband’s temperature and listened to his heartbeat. After examination, he said, “Your husband’s condition is greatly improved.” As I heard him say this, I said excitedly, “Thank God!”
After the doctor left, I closed the door and saw in God’s words, “As man grows up, Satan’s gaze is fixed on every one of them, like a tiger eyeing its prey. But in doing His work, God has never suffered any limitations of people, events or things, of space or time; He does what He should and does what He must. In the process of growing up, you may encounter many things that are not to your liking, encounter illnesses and frustrations. But as you walk this road, your life and your future are strictly under God’s care. God gives you a genuine guarantee to last all your life, for He is right there beside you, guarding you and looking after you.” When I read this passage, I thought of how Satan is constantly harming, toying with, and trampling man, and how God has never left us and is always guiding us and protecting our safety. Take the illness befalling my husband this time, for example. When I felt weak and prayed to God, God turned me into a strong person and gave me the confidence to face this test. When the doctor said that my husband was beyond saving, God’s words enabled me to understand that my husband’s life and death were in God’s hands, and that God has power and authority and controls the lives and deaths as well as the destinies of mankind. From my husband falling ill and his life being hanging in the balance to his survival, it was God’s words that guided and comforted me, so that I had faith to face all of this. I felt that God was at our side watching over us. Thank God!
Just as I was contemplating God’s words, I saw tears sliding down from the corners of my husband’s eyes and then he woke up. At the sight of this, I called excitedly out, “Qingsong, Qingsong, you’re awake! If it hadn’t been for God saving you, there’s no way you would have made it through this time.” He said with a weak voice, “Thanks be to God’s love.”
I ran cheerfully over to the doctors and told them all of this, and then two doctors hurriedly came to see my husband. After they examined him, one doctor said, “Your husband is so lucky. Though he suffers from this disease, he is all right when he comes back to life. It truly is marvelous!” The other said, “We’ve seen many people with the same illness as your husband. Some of them are dead, some braindead, and some paralyzed on one side of their bodies.” I said, “Thank God for His almighty. It is God who has saved my husband.” My husband also said, “Thanks be to the great power of God. It is God that has saved me from the brink of death.” Two of my husband’s friends said, “Bro, you’re truly fortunate! Several people in our village who got the illness all died—yet you are fine. You’ve escaped from death and must be very lucky.” Hearing this, I thanked God from my heart.
In the days that followed, except for eating and receiving IV drips, my husband read God’s words with me the rest of the time. Under God’s care and protection, my husband recovered his health after staying in the hospital for 8 days. I felt gratitude and praise for God in my heart. At the same time, I deeply experienced that God’s words were so precious to us mankind. God’s words were able to guide me to see through Satan’s tricks and come out of my fear and helplessness, and give me so much comfort, so that I had faith to accompany my husband to triumph over the illness. Thank God for preserving my husband’s life and giving him a second chance at life. I make the resolution in my heart: In the future I hope to obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements and perform my duty well to satisfy God. All the glory be to God!
Source: Daily Devotionals
