By Zhang Ying
I am a Christian, and I am turning seventy-five years old this year. In a dangerous situation of falling into a well, it was God’s marvelous salvation that allowed me to experience that God is at my side, protecting and caring for me. And now, when I reflect on this experience, it’s very vivid.
At 5 p.m. on the ninth day of the eighth lunar month in 2014, I drove the sheep to the fields. Having been expropriated by the government, the fields were full of grass. The wells in the fields were covered with grass, too. When I was walking, accidentally, I fell into a well which was fifty meters deep, two feet six inches wide. At that moment, I felt my body was falling slowly, as if someone was holding my body up. Then I was submerged in the water. But amazingly, I began to float slowly, and the water was only up to my waist. When I just came to myself, I found that I was just sitting on something. I thanked God from the bottom of my heart for His protection. I had no idea what I was sitting on, so I touched it with my hands, and it felt hairy. (Later, I knew it was a sister’s dog that fell into the well more than twenty days ago.) At that time, I was very calm, for a clear thought came into my mind: God will certainly save me! And then I raised my head to yell: “Help! Help! …” After several shouts, I heard no reply outside. So I prayed to God: “O God! I fell into the well now. Only You can save me. I am willing to place my life in Your hands …” When praying, I heard someone speaking, so I yelled again: “Help! Help! …” Just then, a passerby living to the east of our village heard my yells and came to the well. After seeing me in the well, he called several people who were pasturing sheep for help. They saw me sitting on something in the well, so they tried to pull me out of the well with a shepherd’s whip. I looked up but could not see it, so they brought a piece of rope from home. At that time, my neighbor just happened to come for a walk in the fields. As soon as he got to the east of the fields, he heard that someone had fallen into the well. So, he ran to join them in saving me. They let down the rope into the well, asked me to pass the rope round my waist, and then pulled me out of the well. My body was not injured at all, and I really thanked God’s salvation.
I hurried home to change my clothes. However, before I finished changing, it became cloudy. After a while, it began to rain heavily. At that time, I realized all of these were under the sovereignty and arrangements of God: Had it not been for the passerby, nobody would have heard me no matter how loud I yelled, for the people who were pasturing their sheep were far away from me. If so, I would have been drowned or soaked by rain and become sick. What was more, it was getting dark. If I had to stay in the well for a night, I would surely die. I saw it was the miraculous deed of God, and more than that, I could see His love and salvation for me. I was moved to tears unconsciously, so I knelt before God and offered up my thanks and praise to Him.
Afterward, my son and daughter-in-law heard the news, and came to see me. Considering that I was more than seventy years old, they advised me to go to the hospital for an examination. But I knew I was fine, so I told them: “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t get hurt, for God is caring for and protecting me.” After confirming that I was all right, they were at ease, and happily said that it was God that I believed in that had protected me. After they went away, I lay on the bed and thought about the events that had happened. Had it not been for God saving me through the dog, I might have lost my life. I, an old lady of seventy-five, fell into a well and couldn’t swim, but could come up from the water and exactly sit on the dog’s carcass. How miraculous it was! Besides, God also arranged several people to save me from the well. And not long after I was saved, it began to rain. Just at this moment, I realized these things were all God’s care and protection for me. Had it not been for such miraculous orchestrations and arrangements of God, I would have sank into the water and been drowned. Thank God’s miraculous salvation! All the glory be to God!
At this time, I thought of God’s words: “As people grow 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 been subject to any limitations arising from people, events or things, of space or time; He does what He should and what He must. In the process of growing up, you may encounter many things that are not to your liking, such as illness and frustration. But as you walk this path, 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. … God has never left your side for a single step” (“God Himself, the Unique VI”). Before when I read this passage of God’s words, I did not have much real knowledge of it. Only through this experience did I have a taste that God is by my side, and God is indeed watching over and protecting every person. Through this experience, I gained more knowledge of God’s almightiness and sovereignty. Thank God! From now on, I will certainly pursue the truth completely and perform my duty to satisfy God.
