By Liu Yan
I was born into a peasant family. In September, 2011, when I worked away from home, my landlord preached Almighty God’s kingdom gospel to me. Through investigating the words and work of Almighty God, I was certain that Almighty God is exactly the one true God who created the heavens and earth and all things, so I accepted His work gladly. However, I didn’t understand God’s urgent desire to save mankind this time. In order to lead an enviable life with a house and car, I was busy working to earn money every day, and seldom attended assemblies with my brothers and sisters or read God’s words.
In the early morning of February 28, 2013, my brother and his wife, my nephew, my cousin and I—the five of us embarked on a trip to work out of town for the new year with my brother at the wheel. As the car traveled on the highway, we talked and laughed about the funny things happening during the Spring Festival, immersed in a pleasant atmosphere. Soon after, every one of us was tired and started to rest in our seats. I closed my eyes with my head leaning against the window. At this time, I heard my brother say to himself, “It’s so strange. What’s wrong with the car? It’s just been fueled. Could it be the problem of the gas?” Not until then did I realize the car was moving much slower, and soon, I heard some strange noise from the door by my side. My brother said to me, “The door beside you was not closed well, right?” Hearing his words, I tried three times and closed the door tight at last. Otherwise, I would easily be flung out. After that, the four of us drifted off to sleep.
All of a sudden, a violent crash startled me out of sleep. I got a throbbing headache with a warm fluid flowing down my face. And I was stunned by the scene as I opened my eyes: My brother covered his head with his hands, crying our names with blood continuously running down his face. His wife was moaning painfully, covering her eye with an apron, which was saturated with blood instantly. My nephew, sitting behind me, was paralyzed in his seat, saying in a weak voice, “I can’t feel my legs …” My cousin beside me was saying something unintelligible with blood in his mouth. At this moment, I realized that we had got into a car accident. I was thoroughly frightened and at a loss.
At that time, the dawn was just breaking. It was so foggy outside and I couldn’t see anything through the window. After a short while, I heard the sound of a car door being pried open, but it didn’t open for a long time. I thought: What shall I do? The door can’t be opened, while everybody is bleeding and in need of first aid. Any delay will be fatal. I was extremely anxious but could do nothing. Suddenly, I remembered I was a believer in Almighty God. So, I hurried to cry to God, “Almighty God! Now the door can’t be opened. I don’t know what to do. I can only depend on You to save us….” I cried to God unceasingly. Around fifteen minutes later, the door was finally pried open, and two ambulances arrived. My nephew was lifted into an ambulance by the paramedics and sent to the local city hospital in a hurry. The rest of us were sent to the local county hospital with our hands clamped over the wounds. As a result, my brother received three hours of suture for his head wounds, and even today there are still many scars on his face. His wife underwent an hour-plus operation on her right eye, but it failed in the end and caused the necrosis of her right eyeball. As for my cousin, his forehead and tongue wounds were sewed up with many stitches. My nephew, only 18, had to lie in bed for life because the nerves in his back had been smashed. Only I was injured slightly and got a few stitches for my eyebrow. I was floored by this tragedy: We were all in good condition. Yet in an instant this calamity befell us. It is really that the changes of man’s fortune are beyond his control.
During the treatment, people from our hometown came to visit us. They surprisingly said, “You are incredibly lucky to survive the car crash! We saw on the spot that your car had gone under a truck and was totally damaged. It’s unbelievable that you are still alive. Heaven helped you!” I nodded excitedly and thought: It is indeed God’s protection. During those twenty days in the hospital, I didn’t dare to leave God even for one moment. So, I read God’s word and listened to the hymns of God’s word on my mobile phone. I saw God’s words: “He worries for us night and day, He protects and cares for us night and day, He never leaves our side, and He devotes all His care to us and pays any price for us” (“Beholding the Appearance of God in His Judgment and Chastisement” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “He is not willing to sacrifice or lose a single soul. People do not care about their own fates, therefore, who on this earth loves you the most? You don’t love yourself, you don’t know to cherish your own life, and you don’t know how precious it is. It is God who loves mankind the most. Only God loves mankind the most” (“Do You Understand God’s Love for Mankind?” in Records of Christ’s Talks). God’s words moved me very much. I saw only God loves mankind the most. He was by my side at all times and never left me. Thinking back, the car, then, could not run at high speed without any reason. My brother called my attention to the fact that the door by my side was not quite closed. If the door had not been closed well, I didn’t know what would happen to me when the accident took place. Thanks to God’s protection, I suffered only superficial injuries. In retrospect, since I accepted the work of Almighty God in the last days, I hadn’t attended gatherings regularly or read God’s words carefully. But God had been at my side protecting me all the time and allowed me to survive that accident. Seeing God’s salvation for me, I felt I was indebted to God too much. In self-blame, I made an inward resolution to believe in God and follow Him faithfully in the future.
After I was discharged from the hospital, I returned to my factory. Then I hastened to find my brothers and sisters and shared God’s deeds I had seen in this accident with them. They all said that God really protected me and visited His love upon me. A sister said with emotion, “Only God is responsible for our life. Only God is our strong tower and refuge.” She also read the following passages of God’s word to me: “My people! You must remain inside My care and protection. Never behave dissolutely! Never behave recklessly! Rather, offer up your loyalty in My house, and only with loyalty can you mount a countercharge against the devil’s cunning. Under no circumstances must you behave as in the past, doing one thing before My face and another behind My back—that way you are already beyond redemption. Surely I have uttered more than enough of words like these, have I not? It is precisely because man’s old nature is incorrigible that I have repeatedly reminded him. Do not get bored! All that I say is for the sake of ensuring your destiny!” (“The Tenth Utterance of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). “Without My existence, mankind can only perish and suffer the invasion of plagues. None will ever again see the beauteous sun and moon or the green world; mankind shall encounter only the frigid night and the inexorable valley of the shadow of death. I am mankind’s only salvation. I am mankind’s only hope and even more, I am He on whom the existence of all mankind rests” (“You Ought to Do Enough Good Deeds to Prepare for Your Destination” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Through listening to God’s words, I understood God has the substance of faithfulness, beauty and goodness. He has been guiding and supplying us. Only by believing in and relying on God can we receive His care and protection. If we stray far from God and are dissolute and unrestrained, Satan will afflict and devour us anytime. In the past, I didn’t comprehend God’s kind intention of saving man. In order to buy a home and car and live a better life, I had been busy all day making money, always thinking of my flesh, while in my spare time practicing faith in God and seeking the truth and life. Besides, I ignored the loving help of my brothers and sisters time after time. How foolish and ignorant I was! Once a man leaves God, he cannot get God’s protection. No matter how much money he has earned, he cannot buy peace and happiness. Had I lost my life in this accident, money and enjoyment would mean nothing to me. Retrospectively, I spread the gospel to my brother and his wife many times. Yet my brother said he only believed in Guan Yu[a] and pursued wealth and honor and didn’t accept Almighty God’s work. His wife even didn’t believe in the existence of God. When I spread the gospel to my cousin, he always used an excuse of having no time to reject it. This allowed me to see clearly that in the disaster believers and unbelievers really have different outcomes. People who don’t have faith in the true God live under the domain of Satan and will not be protected by God in the disaster. My sister-in-law and I were both hit on the eye. However, her right eye was left blind, while my eyes were in perfect condition due to the protection of God. The facts proved that God is mankind’s only salvation and that He is the One on whom the existence of all mankind rests.
After experiencing this accident, I had seen God’s love and protection for me and recognized Almighty God is the unique, true God, as if waking up from a deep sleep. In the days that followed, I read another passage of God’s word, “This is why I say that everything man has—peace and joy, blessings and personal safety—is in fact all under God’s control, and He guides and decides the life and fate of every individual” (“God Himself, the Unique VI” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh). From God’s words, I understood: Our lives and fate are controlled by God’s hand, and the peace and joy in our hearts are bestowed by God. It is the biggest blessing for us, in our lives, to come before God, receive His salvation, and obey His sovereignty and arrangements. Having understood God’s will, I didn’t pursue the superior life with a house and car anymore but began to read more words of God. Now, as soon as I have time, I will have meetings with my brothers and sisters. Meanwhile, I have been performing my duty as a created being. Thank Almighty God for His salvation. In future, I am willing to diligently seek the truth and fulfill my duty to repay His love.
Footnotes:
a. Guan Yu (AD 160-220) was a Chinese general during the period of the Three Kingdoms, renowned for his loyalty and later deified as Guandi.
