The editor’s word: On the path of believing in God, we often encounter different kinds of situations and barriers. Sometimes due to small faith, we’ll be timid and hang back, and don’t know how to cope with the difficulties ahead. When the author of this article faced her family opposing her belief in God, it was God’s word that guided her to see through Satan’s schemes and follow God unswervingly. The following article will tell you her true experience.

In July 2017, by chance I got to know that the Lord had returned to flesh, and that His name is Almighty God. He has expressed many words and carried out the work of judgment beginning from the house of God. On hearing the news, I was amazed as well as joyful. Through a period of investigation and reading Almighty God’s word, I felt God’s word is exactly the truth and carries authority and power. His word not only reveals my corrupt nature and judges my unrighteousness but also makes me see the truth of my corruption by Satan and know God’s righteous disposition. At the same time, God’s word shows me how to get rid of sins and attain salvation. I was sure that Almighty God is indeed the returned Lord Jesus and then joined The Church of Almighty God formally.

One day, when my son happened to find the APP of The Church of Almighty God installed on my smartphone, he changed his usual attitude toward me and furiously pushed open the door of my room, questioning me loudly: “Mom! Have you believed in Almighty God?” This was the first time my son had become enraged with me in years. At this moment I was at a loss, but I had to pretend to be calm, saying: “Yes.” He continued to say forcefully: “Do you know The Church of Almighty God?” As he spoke, he immediately turned on the smartphone and showed me the online negative propaganda. Seeing the online negative propaganda, I felt furious in my heart, and thought: In the last days, God becomes flesh and expresses words to save mankind, giving people light; however, the atheistic CCP government starts libelous rumors and condemns The Church of Almighty God in an attempt to deceive people into refusing God’s salvation. The CCP is truly evil! Therefore, I looked at my son and told him firmly: “The CCP starts these rumors in order to suppress The Church of Almighty God. The CCP is atheistic and it has been relentless in its persecution of religious faith and declared that the Bible is an evil cult book. It hates the truth and resists God the most, so how can we believe its words?” Before I finished my words, my son interrupted me, saying: “Mom! No matter what you say, I won’t let you believe in Almighty God.” At his words, I raised my voice as well and said angrily: “My belief in God is my own business.” Then we ended up parting on bad terms and he furiously hurried to his school.

For a while, my son constantly sent messages to me, which all were some online negative propaganda about The Church of Almighty God. Additionally, my son had told my sister about my accepting God’s work of the last days, and so she made a call to hinder me as well. Facing this situation, I lost my calm for a long time and thought: Since we came to Singapore many years ago, my son and I have come to depend on each other; my son was always well-behaved and obedient, and he has never quarreled or argued with me. However, today he lost his temper to me because of believing the rumors of the CCP government; will the relationship between me and my son break up? If he keeps opposing my belief in Almighty God, then how should I deal with it? Through investigating the word Almighty God has expressed, I’ve determined it is the true path; will I give it up due to my son’s opposition? With this in mind, I felt very confused and had to keep on praying to God in my heart: “God! What should I do? I beg You to guide me.”

After praying, I phoned a sister and told her what had happened. The sister communed with me: “Regarding the matter you are faced with, outwardly it appears that your son is hindering you from believing in God. Actually, there is a spiritual war behind it. In order to stop us from coming before God and gaining God’s salvation, Satan makes use of the person, matter and object around us to disturb us. Satan’s aim is to make us betray God and return to its battle formations. This is Satan’s evil intentions. Sister! The more Satan attacks us, the more we should view things according to God’s word and see through Satan’s schemes. Moreover, we should pray to God more and believe that God will surely lead us to overcome Satan’s temptations.” The sister also sent me some written testimonies of the brothers and sisters. I read a sister’s article, which says, “After she believed in Almighty God, her husband prevented her from believing in God and also hid her books because of being influenced by some online negative propaganda. Faced with her husband’s rude expression, she began to feel negative inside. Later, by praying to God and relying on God, she realized in God’s word that it was a spiritual war, succeeded in seeing through Satan’s schemes, and thus made a resolution that no matter how her families opposed, she would keep her faith. When the sister stood firm and bore witness for God, Satan retreated in humiliation. Her family no longer opposed her belief in God.” In the article I saw a passage of God’s word: “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men and the interference of men. Behind every step of work that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle” (“Only Loving God Is Truly Believing in God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). Thank God! Through this passage of God’s word and the sister’s experience, I saw the light. I understood it was a spiritual fight that my son and my family hindered me from believing in God. Because Satan knew that emotion was my weakness, it made use of my son who depended on me and my sister to resist my belief in God. I failed to see through the dynamics of the spiritual world, so I felt negative and weak, and couldn’t stand witness to satisfy God in Satan’s temptations. Actually, when Satan’s interference arrived, it carried God’s permission; God wanted to test my faith and let me learn to rely on God, look up to God in this situation, and finally be able to live by God’s word and stand testimony for God. As I understood these, I felt relieved. Thus, I quieted myself and prayed to God: “O God! I understand too little of the truth, so I feel a little weak in my heart facing my son’s opposition. However, I’m willing to satisfy You and stand witness to You. I wish You to guide me and give me faith and wisdom!”

In the afternoon my son called and asked me what time I would come back. Hearing my son’s impatient tone on the other end of the phone line, I couldn’t help but feel concerned: How would my son and my daughter-in-law deal with my faith in God after I returned home? Might it be a fierce argument again? I recalled again what the brothers and sisters communed with me in previous meetings: When I found myself in certain situations, I should learn to face it calmly; as long as I came before God, relied on Him, and looked up to Him, God then would surely give me wisdom and power. Hence, I silently prayed to God in my heart as I walked. After praying, I thought of a passage of God’s word: “You should not be afraid of this and that; no matter how many difficulties and dangers you might face, you are capable of remaining steady before Me, unobstructed by any hindrance…. You must possess My courage within you, and you must have principles when it comes to facing relatives who do not believe. For My sake, however, you also must not yield to any dark forces. Rely on My wisdom to walk the perfect way; do not allow any of Satan’s conspiracies to take hold. Put all your efforts into placing your heart before Me, and I shall comfort you and bring you peace and happiness.” The enlightenment and guidance of God’s word instantly gave me faith and power. Yeah! All things and events are in God’s hands, so are my son and my daughter-in-law. What God wanted to see was whether or not I had a strong desire for God in this situation and whether or not I could stand on the side of God when facing the barriers and disturbance from my families. Consequently, I made a resolution: Anything can be discussed but in the matter of faith in God, I never give in to them. No matter how they prevent me, I will satisfy God and bear testimony for Him.

When I arrived back home, my son and my daughter-in-law were waiting for me there. In a short while, my son dragged me to his room and said to me seriously: “Mom! We have to talk it over today.” Before I could say a word, he continued saying: “Mom! Do you know there’s some stuff online that Christ you believe in is a female?” At my son’s words, I silently prayed to God inside and sought His guidance. After praying to God, I said to my son: “God is of the Spirit and does not have a gender. It’s only because of the need of His work that He has incarnated as a male or a female. Regardless of what kind of flesh He takes on, His essence is still God’s spirit. Genesis 1:27 says, ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.’ This piece of scripture says that God created both man and woman in His image, which indicates both man and woman have the image of God, so we shouldn’t define that God is a male. In fact, God is not only the God of men but also the God of women. In the Age of Grace God became flesh as a male, but if God incarnates once again as a male, then it is very easy for people to define that God is male and is the God of men. Then, will we not define God? In this stage of God’s work, He has incarnated once again as a female and it contains God’s wisdom. As a created being, how can we see through God’s work? If we define God at will, does it not prove that we are too arrogant?” After hearing my words, he was unable to refute, but still threatened me, saying: “Mom! If you insist on believing in Almighty God, I’ll tell my grandmother and the brothers and sisters of our church that you have believed in Almighty God.” I continued talking to him: “Son! We all know that the Lord will return in the last days. Almighty God is indeed the returned Lord Jesus. By accepting God’s work of the last days, I’m following the footsteps of the Lamb. Why will you prevent me from following God.”

He hurried to take out the Bible, opened it, and then handed it to me, saying: “You may look at what the Bible says about this. ‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:29–30). When the Lord returns, He will show these visions to people. But, these words aren’t still realized, then how can you say that the Lord has returned?” I talked to my son calmly: “Son! When you read the Bible, you can’t only read the literal meaning of the Bible. Generally, the prophecies are all cryptic; they are not the superficial meaning we understand. In regard to the way in which the Lord returns, we can’t only see the prophecies that the Lord will descend with the clouds and ignore the ones that He’ll come in secret. For example: ‘Behold, I come as a thief’ (Revelation 16:15). ‘For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation’ (Luke 17:24–25). These prophecies mention that the Lord will come as a thief, that is to say, come as the Son of man. It indicates that when the Lord comes, He will secretly come as the Son of man apart from coming upon a cloud in public. If we define that there is only the way the Lord will descend with the clouds when He returns, then how will the prophecies that the Lord will come in secret be fulfilled? If the Lord comes upon a cloud with many great signs, such as the sun and the moon not giving their light, the stars falling from heaven, and the heavens being shaken, the scenes will surely be earth-shattering and we all can see and know them. Then, how can the prophecy that the Lord ‘comes as a thief’ be fulfilled? Additionally, how can the prophecy that ‘But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation’ be realized? As a matter of fact, there are many prophecies in the Bible mentioning that when the Lord returns in the last days He will carry out the work of judgment beginning from the house of God, and do the work of separating sheep from goats, tares from wheat, which is a work of separating all according to their kind. My son! Now think about it: If the Lord comes upon a cloud with power and great glory, then every eye shall see Him. Won’t all people drop to the ground? Who dares to resist? In that case, how will the work of separating sheep from goats be fulfilled? We shouldn’t define the way in which the Lord returns according to the two scriptures; otherwise it’s easy for us to miss the opportunity to welcome the Lord’s coming and to be forsaken by the Lord.”

At my words, my son’s tone became obviously gentle, but he still insisted on his own view, saying: “Mom! You’d better read the Bible carefully. Don’t believe in Almighty God, okay?” I said firmly: “Son! Almighty God is indeed the returned Lord Jesus. Now God has returned and no matter what happens, I will follow Him. Whatever you say avails nothing.” Hearing I said that, he showed a helpless expression, put the Bible in my hand, closed the door and left. At that moment I made a silent prayer to God inside. I knew it was the step-by-step guidance of God’s word that made me counter Satan’s fallacies and hold to the true path.

The next evening, my son came back from work and explicitly said to me: “Mom! No matter how I hinder you, you never give up believing in Almighty God. So, I no longer oppose you in the future.” Hearing his words, I offered God my gratitude and praise again. Indeed, I saw God’s deeds when I made a resolution to satisfy God. Now I no longer feel restrained by my family when attending meetings and reading God’s word. Thank God! It’s God’s guidance that has let me feel released and free. All the glory be to Almighty God!