By Wang Li
In September, 2012, I was fortunate enough to accept God’s kingdom gospel. But at that time I didn’t have much understanding of the significance of believing in God and fulfilling duties, but always held the concept that we couldn’t live without money in this society. I therefore put all my heart into making money rather than into practicing my faith. As a result, I didn’t have a normal church life and even didn’t make prayers regularly. It was not until I was caught in a terrible car accident that I finally came to realize what is most important in life.
It was May 30, 2013. After lunch, I drove my van to a garage 10 kilometers away to transport goods as usual. I was driving at a high speed and didn’t slow down until I came to a crossroad where I was going to turn left and get into the garage. I had just turned onto the oncoming lane when a bus suddenly rushed toward me from one side. Instantly, with a loud bang, my chest hit the steering wheel hard and bits of broken glass showered over my head. At that moment, my mind went totally blank and I felt a stream of warm fluid flowing down my face. I raised my hand and felt it. “It’s blood! I’ve had an accident!” During my years as a driver, I had witnessed many traffic accidents where the vehicles were destroyed and the drivers died, but I never thought that this tragedy would happen to me one day. “Will I die today?” At this thought, a rush of panic came over me. Then, it suddenly occurred to me that I was a Christian, so I immediately cried out to God, “Oh God, please care for and protect me. God, I beg You to save me. Please save me….” After the prayer, my panicked heart gradually calmed down.
Then, I came to find that the windshield was smashed into small pieces, and that the front of my van was badly mangled. Blood kept streaming down from my head, soaking through my clothes. I leaned over the steering wheel, pressing my hand to the wound, unable to move. I thought to myself, “If I die, who will take care of my family? I’m still young. Am I really going to separate from my family forever?” I was in great agony, waves of panic welling up in my heart. In that moment, I wished so much that someone could come and give me a hand, yet there was no one around, which plunged me into deep despair. Just at this critical moment, these words of God occurred to me in my mind, “I am your strong tower, I am your shelter, and I am your backup. Moreover, I am your Almighty One; I am your all!” Yes, I thought. All things in the universe, including mountains, rivers, lakes, animals, plants and us mankind, are controlled by God’s hands. Only God is my backup and strong tower. Whether I live or die today is decided by God. I should entrust my life to God and let Him rule over it. As I realized this, I no longer felt as desperate as before.
After a while, the traffic police and people in the bus company all arrived. They talked with each other, but I couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying. I just leaned over the steering wheel in great pain, unable to move at all. Time crawled by second by second, minute by minute. As I gazed at my blood-soaked clothes and a pool of blood in the cab, a storm of thoughts raced through my mind: In order to live a wealthy life, I’ve worked my fingers to the bone to make money. Yet not only have I not lived a life I dreamed of, but I’m even in danger of losing my life. In the past, the brothers and sisters in my church fellowshiped with me that pursuing the truth and fulfilling our duties as created beings is most meaningful, but I believed that living in a money-centered society where to have money is to have everything, we can do nothing without money. But now when I’m caught in an accident, what is the use of all my money? Can it really save my life? Ah…. I let out a deep sigh in my heart.
After two hours of long waiting, the ambulance finally arrived. With the help of some people, I struggled to walk into the ambulance and passed out immediately after that. Not knowing how long had passed, I was suddenly woken up by a sharp pain. I found that a doctor was cleaning the wound on my head, and then I discovered that there was a 15-centimeter-long gash in my body. Blood from the wound drenched my clothes, which made it hard to take them off, so the doctor could only cut them away. When the doctor was suturing up my wound, my chest felt rather tight and I kept tossing and turning, which caused a lot of trouble to the doctor during the suturing. As the feeling of tightness in my chest became stronger and stronger, I couldn’t help but fold my arms across my chest and open my mouth to gasp for breath, and I felt like I was suffocating. In anxiety, I cried out to God time and again in my heart, saying, “Oh God, I’m really very uncomfortable. Please help me. God….” After praying, I thought of these words of 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.” God’s words gave me faith and comfort. God is almighty. My life and death are in His hand. If He doesn’t permit it, I won’t die even if I have but one breath left. I’ve made it this far since the accident happened—isn’t it all thanks to God’s protection? At this thought, I immediately had something to lean on in my heart and didn’t feel so scared and painful.
Seeing my situation, the doctor realized how serious things might be, so he immediately took a CT scan of me. The test showed that I had fractures in the left first rib and in the right first and second ribs, contusions to my lungs, trauma to my brain, and laceration to my scalp. Hearing how serious my injuries were, I was startled. “Oh my,” I thought, “my condition is this bad? It has been two hours since the accident happened. Were it not for God’s protection and care, I would have already sunk into a coma after such serious internal injuries and this much blood loss. But now I am lying here still conscious—it really is God’s wonderful deed!”
Later, a friend of mine who worked in the local Public Security Bureau came to visit me in the hospital, and he said to me in amazement: “In the light of the condition of the accident site, it was a major traffic accident. The fact that you are still alive really is a miracle. You are so lucky!” I learned that on the day of the accident, the wife of the bus driver was going to have a baby and called him to hurry back. That was why he drove the bus so fast that it pushed my car forward for over 25 meters before it finally stopped, leaving dark skid marks on the road. If the broken ribs had moved a little bit inward, my lungs would have been punctured, and I would definitely have died from blood loss during the two hours before the ambulance arrived. I was aware that it was God’s wondrous protection and care that delivered me from the very brink of death. Tears of gratitude welling up in my eyes, and I didn’t know what to say but just kept thanking God in my heart over and over again. I silently made a resolution that as soon as my condition improved, I would read God’s words in earnest to equip myself with the truth and fulfill the duties of a created being to repay God’s love.
The following treatment also went very well and, under God’s wondrous protection, I was discharged from the hospital thirteen days later. After I got back home, I heard the villagers say, “That really was a dangerous accident! His car was reduced to a complete wreck, but he is still alive. It was the God he believes in who saved him. He is really lucky.” “He was so badly injured in such a major accident, yet he got out of the hospital after only ten or so days. How wondrous!” Hearing this, I silently thanked God in my heart, for it was all because of God’s love and mercy that I was able to survive.
Though I was seriously injured, I recovered extremely fast and didn’t suffer any lasting injury. This strengthened my faith even more in God, and I knew that it was God who bestowed a second life on me. I saw these words of God: “His deeds are omnipresent, His power is omnipresent, His wisdom is omnipresent, and His authority is omnipresent. Each of these laws and rules is the embodiment of His deeds, and each one reveals His wisdom and authority. Who can exempt themselves from His sovereignty? And who can discharge themselves from His designs? All things exist beneath His gaze, and moreover, all things live under His sovereignty. His deeds and His power leave mankind with no choice but to acknowledge the fact that He really does exist and holds sovereignty over all things.”
Through this accident, I truly saw that God’s deed is everywhere and His authority is everywhere and that He is right by my side watching over and protecting me. In the face of the accident, I truly felt that man’s life is so insignificant and fragile, unable to withstand the slightest of blows. I also saw that no matter how much money we have, it is to no avail in the face of disasters and cannot buy us lives. Meanwhile, I’ve also gained some knowledge of God’s authority and power. I saw that all things, living or dead, are controlled in God’s hands and that without God’s permission, one won’t die even if one’s car is totally wrecked. It was all thanks to God’s wondrous protection that I could survive this terrible accident.
After this experience, I deeply appreciated that when disasters befall, God is the only One we can depend upon while no amount of money or material wealth can save our lives. After this accident, I no longer put all my heart into making money, but rather often quiet myself to read God’s words, gather together, and fellowship with my brothers and sisters, and fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities. I have truly returned before God.
Thanks be to God. All glory be to God!
