No Longer Constrained by the Thought of Death Through the Guidance of God’s Words

Yuan Xiu woke up in the middle of the night in incredible pain, feeling like something was piercing her very bones. She was pouring sweat and soon started to vomit. The pain was so tortuous that she was totally unable to go back to sleep. She felt that just like cancer, her liver ascites was going to steal her life away from her; she also knew that she could no longer blame God or make any demands of Him.

It then occurred to her that only God’s words can soothe her soul and relieve her suffering, and so without hesitation she sat up, grabbed her book of God’s words, and read this: “Since the Creator has determined a fixed set of circumstances for a person’s birth, it goes without saying that He has also arranged a fixed set of circumstances for one’s death. In other words, no one is born by chance, no one’s death is unexpected, and both birth and death are necessarily connected with one’s previous and present lives. The circumstances of one’s birth and death are both predetermined by the Creator; this is a person’s destiny, a person’s fate. … Everyone wants an illustrious birth, a brilliant life, and a glorious death, but no one can overstep their own destiny, no one can escape the Creator’s sovereignty. This is human fate. Man can make all kinds of plans for his future, but no one can plan the manner and time of their birth and of their departure from the world. Though people do their best to avoid and resist the coming of death, yet still, unbeknownst to them, death silently draws near. No one knows when they will perish or how they will do so, much less where it will happen. Obviously, 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” (“God Himself, the Unique III”).

God’s words, so full of authority, allowed Yuan Xiu to understand that He is the Creator, humans are created beings, and every person’s time of birth and death is ordained and arranged by God. Some people are weak and prone to illness for their entire lives but still live to an advanced age, while some are usually very healthy but then suddenly become ill and die. These facts show that people have no control over their own fate. Yuan Xiu realized that even though her condition was very serious, whether or not she would improve, when that may happen, and whether she lived or died was all in God’s hands—He had the final say. Even if she only had a single breath left in her, God wouldn’t allow her to die until the mission she was born to carry out was completed. This suddenly brought light into Yuan Xiu’s heart; she knew that she should lean on God and go through her sickness according to God’s words, and submit to His orchestrations and arrangements. God’s words comforted Yuan Xiu’s fragile heart, giving her strength. She suddenly felt full of fortitude and gained the faith to experience God’s work.

From then on Yuan Xiu devotedly read God’s words and sang hymns in praise of God every day. She took her medicine when she was supposed to and continued to get her exercise. As for how her illness would progress, she became willing to let nature take its course and obey God’s orchestrations and arrangements. When she was unbearably tormented by her illness she prayed to God and asked Him to give her the strength to not complain to Him, and to not fear death. When she overheard her relatives or neighbors idly gossiping about her condition, she would quiet herself before God and lean on God so that she wasn’t disturbed or constrained by their talk. This is how Yuan Xiu maintained an attitude of peace and equanimity every day that passed. Gradually, her condition began to improve and she started doing household chores to the extent that she was able.

A little while later the church arranged to have some brothers and sisters hold gatherings at Yuan Xiu’s house because of her physical condition, so once every few days she was able to participate in gatherings and read God’s words with others, and have fellowship on their understanding and experiences of God’s words. She was living every day within the guidance of God’s words and she started feeling better and better. She no longer seemed to be a very ill person—she gave thanks to God from her heart.

Recognizing God’s Rule After Her Miraculous Recovery

Yuan Xiu went to the hospital for a checkup one day, and when the doctor took a look at her exam results, he said in surprise, “Have you been taking some kind of new medicine? How could you have recovered so well? You’ve recovered your liver function and your ascites isn’t showing up. It’s incredible!”

Hearing this was very exciting for Yuan Xiu, and she knew deep in her heart that this was God’s wondrous doing, that He had been the One to cure her. She thought of other people who had also gotten liver ascites, Mrs. Fu’s daughter from her village and Mr. Wu from the next village over—they had gone to a major hospital for several months of treatment and had spent quite a bit of money on it, but they ended up dying. She, on the other hand, had relied on God and under the guidance of God’s words, she miraculously recovered from her illness. She gave genuine thanks to God!

On her way back home Yuan Xiu walked along steadily with a smile on her face. Her fellow villagers all looked shocked when they learned of her recovery. Seeing their expressions of surprise, Yuan Xiu knew in her heart that regaining her health was entirely due to God’s grace—it was really an embodiment of His authority! Just as God’s words say, “The authority and power of God are unconstrained by time, geography, space, or any person, matter or thing. The breadth of God’s authority and power surpasses the imagination of man; it is unfathomable to man, unimaginable to man, and shall never be completely known by man” (“God Himself, the Unique I”).

After going through this test of her brush with death, Yuan Xiu’s erroneous perspective on her faith shifted and she gained true understanding of God’s authority; her faith was also strengthened. She deeply felt how precious God’s words are and that they are the foundation of people’s lives. She only wished to focus on experiencing God’s words, perform her duty well, and repay God’s love in all of her days that followed.

Source From: Gospel of The Descent of The Kingdom

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