Zhang Ran

I am an ordinary citizen owning a small business, which is not bad. After my wife believed in God, she spread the Gospel to me. In the beginning, I went to assemblies and read God’s words as well. But before long, I thought going to assemblies would take my time and hinder my business. Thus, I stopped going to assemblies but worked all day long for money, straying farther and farther away from God. In a thrilling car accident, God saved me and my little grandson from death. I saw the wondrous deeds of God with my own eyes and then returned to God.

It was a day in 2013. I rode my bike to the barber with my 6-year-old grandson. I had to ride through a broad road with heavy traffic on the way. When I was carefully crossing the road with my little grandson and was about to reach the roadside, a black car drove fast straight toward my bike. My heart suddenly jumped into my throat. When the car almost hit us, I felt the doomsday had come and thought to myself, “This is the end. Do my grandson’s life and mine just end like this? I do not want to die!” At this dire moment, I suddenly remembered God. My heart cried eagerly, “God! Please help me!” Then I was hit by the car, flew out of my bike and lost consciousness …

Not knowing how long had passed, I faintly heard my wife crying my little grandson’s name. Her cry woke me up. When realizing that I was still alive, I thanked God so gratefully with my heart! At this time, I suddenly remembered my little grandson. My heart immediately became anxious: Is my grandson ok? Is he still alive? If anything untoward happened to him, how can I explain to my son and daughter-in-law? When I tried to slowly move my body, I just found my whole body without even any injury. I quickly got up and looked around for my grandson …

My wife and I looked anxiously, then I just saw my grandson lying under the car. Seeing him there I was amazed and ecstatic. I called his name loudly. When my grandson heard me, he climbed out from under the car, held my wife’s neck and cried, “Grandma, thanks to our God! We are saved because of our belief in Him!” Hearing such words said by my only 6-year-old grandson, I was even more excited and said to my wife, “Yes! It is true! Thank God indeed! God heard my prayer! I was knocked out by the car six or seven meters away, lying on the curb. And my grandson was knocked under the car. But we both turned out just like untouched. There was no injury. What a wonder! God saved our lives!” At that moment, the driver was paralyzed by the scene of the accident, standing there overwhelmed. When he saw the child crawled out from under his car without any injury, he lifted his hands and said, “It is a miracle, it is a miracle! Thank heavens! Thank heavens!”

When I got home, my wife and I came before God and prayed. As I cried and prayed to God, “God, thank You for saving both me and my grandson from the verge of death. Today I eventually see that everything is in Your hands. O God, we can only depend on You. Though I believed in You before, I did not pursue the truth in earnest. Today I was saved by you. I’ve set up my mind to be a good believer and fulfill my duty as a creature, to repay God’s great love …”

Not long after the incident, my neighbors, friends and relatives all learned what had happened. They said that the God my wife believed in was just almighty and so wonderful. My wife and I could not stop thanking God for His marvelous keeping. As God says, “Only I am the true God; only I am your refuge. Now you can do nothing but hide in My secret place, only within Me, and disasters will not befall you, and no calamity will come near your tent.” In this experience I really felt that in despair, money and relatives are no guarantee of our lives. Only by calling out to God and depending on Him can we have God’s care and keeping. Recalling my past, I was busy working from morning to evening to make money. I had forgotten my life came from God and my destiny is in the hands of God. In pursuit of money I was farther and farther away from God and lived under the domain of Satan. However, God did not treat me according to my deeds. He did not ignore my life. At the moment of life-or-death, I deeply realized that only God can save me.

I really regretted I did not attend assemblies on time or read God’s words more in the past. Not until then did I realize that life cannot be bought by money, neither can money save me from disaster. Only when I come to Almighty God and receive God’s salvation, can I live in His care and keeping. God’s words are the need of my life. Only by reading God’s words and obtaining the truth from His words can our life be guaranteed. Since then, I have lived a routine life in the church: meeting with brothers and sisters, reading God’s words, singing and praising God. I feel very happy in my heart.

Once, I read Almighty God’s words, “I want each and every person to see that all I have done is right, and that all I have done is an expression of My disposition. It is not man’s doing, much less nature, that brought forth mankind, but I, who nourish every living being in creation. Without My existence, mankind will only perish and suffer the scourge of calamity. No human being will ever again see the beauteous sun and moon, or the verdant 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. … The disaster originates with Me and is of course orchestrated by Me. If you cannot appear as good in My eyes, then you will not escape suffering the disaster” (“Prepare Sufficient Good Deeds for Your Destination”). “Like all things, man is quietly and unknowingly nourished by the sweetness and rain and dew from God; like all things, man unknowingly lives beneath the orchestration of God’s hand. Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, everything of his life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. Such is the way in which God presides over all things” (“God Is the Source of Man’s Life”). Indeed! Everything is in God’s sovereignty. Man’s thoughts and minds are in God’s hands. Disaster is also turning according to God’s will. God presides over everything. Believe it or not, everything is under God’s control. God is always the Master of all things, the One who rules everything. And the words of God are the immutable truth.

This unforgettable experience gave me the first-hand experience that God is not only almighty but also practical. He is right by my side. Only God is paying silently for this mankind and guarding this mankind. And only God is the Redeemer of mankind. In the midst of distress, it is God’s mercy, salvation and protection that brought me another life and led me onto the right path of worshiping God. All the glory be to God!