Spring Festival was drawing near and all the families were immersed in a joyful atmosphere of celebrating the Spring Festival. Yueju’s family even more felt happy for they just managed a wedding for her younger son, being gay with lanterns, decorations, drums and gongs.
“Ah, our younger son also has had a family, and our older son has become a father. The stone on my heart has finally removed. This year we have to spend a comfortable Spring Festival!” Yueju talked with her husband happily as she tidied the house.
“Alas! Yes. Our kids all have had their families and we can live an idle life in the future.” Her husband said contentedly, being busy with his work.
Two days later it was the New Year’s Eve, but just about 10 p.m. on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, when Yueju just lay down after a busy day, she heard her daughter-in-law’s cries.
“Mom! Mom! Hurry up! Oh no! Come quickly! Gu Feng has drunk pesticide!” Hearing this, Yueju sat up with a start. She was so frightened that she trembled all over, almost fainting. Without allowing herself time to think, she hurriedly turned over, got out of the bed and tottered to her son’s room, only to find her son had become senseless, lying at full length on the floor and foaming at the mouth. Kneeling on the ground, she didn’t stop shaking her son and cried loudly, “Son, wake up! What’s wrong with you? Wake up …” However, no matter how she called her son, he didn’t have any response. At that time, her husband, who rushed over after hearing the news, called an ambulance in a hurry; then he called to her younger sister and daughter-in-law and rushed to the hospital, leaving herself to care for her two young grandchildren.
In the cold and dark night, the biting wind kept howling. Seeing the car whirling away through a mist of tears, Yueju suddenly felt an anguish at her heart, not knowing whether her son could come to.
“Grandma, what’s wrong with my daddy? Where he went?” Her little grandson’s naive question made her feel as if a knife were being twisted in her heart. She hastily dried her eyes, turned her head and looked at her young grandson and granddaughter. Then she clenched her teeth, reluctantly pulled herself together and said to them, “It’s cold outside. Let’s go home. Your daddy will come back soon.” With that, she held two kids by the hands and entered the house.
Back in her room, Yueju weakly sat on the bed leaning on the wall. Looking at these two slumbering kids and thinking of her son whose life was hanging in the balance, she felt a piercing pain, tears streaming down her cheeks like beads. She had never thought that her son would do such a foolish thing just because of some conflicts between him and his wife. She kept muttering, “Son, why are you so foolish? If you pass away, what about me? And what about these two kids in the future? …” The more she thought, the more she felt frightened. The tremendous fear like a dark figure enveloped her heart, which made her almost feel painful to the extreme. Just when she felt helpless, she suddenly remembered God’s words: “Starting today, I will let all people begin to know Me—the only true God, who created everything, who came among humans and was rejected and slandered by them, and who controls and arranges everything in its entirety; the King who is in charge of the kingdom; the God Himself who manages the cosmos; and, moreover, the God who controls the life and death of humans and who holds the key of Hades.” God’s words, like a beam of light, immediately enlightened her heart. She suddenly realized: Yes! Only God is the source of our life and the life and death of man is all controlled by the hands of God. I am a believer in God, how could I forget God? Pondering God’s words, she felt a wave of warmth in her heart. She hurriedly fell down on the bed and prayed to God sincerely, “O God, today my son drank pesticide. No matter how I’m worried, I can’t save his life. You are the only true God who controls our life and death. I only wish to put my son’s life in Your hands. I believe You are righteous. May You protect my heart so that I won’t complain and can submit to Your sovereignty and arrangement.” After the prayer, her heart gradually was set free and she didn’t feel that painful. She quietly watched over these two kids, waiting for her son’s news coming on the line.
In the long and quiet night, only the ticks of the clock could be heard. As for Yueju, every second was so tortured, so she dared not leave God for a single moment in her heart and hoped the miracle could appear next moment.
At 2 a.m., there was a sudden burst of knocking from the door. Her heart went to her throat right away and thumped violently. She forced herself to open the door with her legs shaking. When seeing her sister stood alone outside the door, she eagerly asked, “How’s my son? Has he been rescued?”
Seeing her sister just flowing tears without saying anything for a long time, she had a sinister foreboding in her heart and felt an anguish again immediately.
“Sister, the doctors have pumped Gu Feng’s stomach, but he is still unconscious. Now his hands are blue, his lips are obviously blue, and his heart has stopped beating. The doctors said he is on the brink of death and allowed us to take him back. Now all the relatives and friends have gone to the hospital; moreover, they brought much money to beg the doctors to try some other methods to rescue him. But the doctors said they could do nothing about it, because Gu Feng drank pesticide after drinking alcohol, pesticide mixed with alcohol is deadly poison, and this poison worked and had spread too quickly. So we must simply accept the will of Heaven …” Her sister sobbed, hesitating.
Hearing that her son was going to die, Yueju felt so painful that she lost breath, as if her heart were cut out by knife. Instantly, she felt the world spin. Her sister hugged her quickly, helped her to the room and comforted her, “Sister, you have to carry it through! … Relatives allowed me to bring you and two kids to the hospital so that you can see him before his time is up …”
She muttered weakly and limply, “I know they have good intentions, but no matter how much money we have, it doesn’t work and can’t buy back my son’s life!” With that, she couldn’t help but burst into a flood of tears, sobbed and could say nothing.
At that moment, she was dying to fly to her son’s side right away and see him one more time. But she really couldn’t bear the pain of facing that her son would die, much less saw the helpless scene that her son was going to die but she could do nothing for him. In this dilemma, she steeled her heart and painfully chose not to go to the hospital and then she fought her tears, waked these two slumbering kids and sent them to the car.
After her sister took kids away, Yueju couldn’t hold back the deep sorrow in her heart anymore. She wept bitterly and prayed to God, “O God, my stature is too small. Hearing the news that my son is going to die, I feel very painful in my heart. I really can’t bear the pain of facing that my son will die. May You protect my heart so that I won’t complain about You. I beg You to help me go through this difficulty and allow me to have faith to overcome it.”
After praying, she thought of God’s words: “Who of the whole of mankind is not cared for in the eyes of the Almighty? Who does not live in the midst of the Almighty’s predestination? Does man’s life and death happen by his own choice? Does man control his own fate? Many people cry out for death, yet it is far away from them; many people want to be those who are strong in life and fear death, yet unbeknownst to them, the day of their demise draws near, plunging them into the abyss of death.” God’s words consoled her broken heart. She clearly realized: The life and death of man is all controlled by the hands of God and not at all chosen by people themselves. Neither relying on money nor relying on doctors could change the situation. No matter how the doctors said my son is going to die, they can’t decide his life and death. Whether my son will live or die is entirely controlled by God’s hands. At that time, she also thought that when Job was faced with trails: His property was stolen and his children suffered calamity, he didn’t complain about God or deny God, but could still praise God, bless the name of God and speak out the words “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). She realized that she should follow the example of Job. No matter whether her son could continue living, she should praise God and obey His orchestration and arrangement without complaint. At the point, because of God’s guidance, she felt somewhat relieved and much calmer.
The time passed one second and one minute at a time and it was already 5 o’clock in the morning. From the distance came frequent sound of firecrackers. People all happily welcomed the new year’s coming. However, Yueju’s home was enveloped by an atmosphere of sorrow. Such a large contrast made Yueju, who felt sorrowful in her heart at that time, really wish the time could stop there and the daybreak would never come. Because as soon as the daybreak came, her son would “go home”. At that moment, she suddenly thought the words the Lord Jesus said to Martha when He allowed Lazarus to raise from dead: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believe you this?” (John 11:25-26). And then she also thought of God’s word: “God created this world and brought man, a living being unto which He bestowed life, into it. Next, man came to have parents and kin, and was no longer alone. Ever since man first laid eyes on this material world, he was destined to exist within the ordination of God. The breath of life from God supports each and every living being throughout growth into adulthood.” “All who come into this world must pass through life and death, and the majority of them have passed through the cycle of death and rebirth. Those who are living will soon die, and the dead will soon return. All of this is the course of life arranged by God for each living being.” “Besides birth and childrearing, the parents’ responsibility in their children’s lives is simply to provide them with a formal environment to grow up in, for nothing except the predestination of the Creator has a bearing on a person’s fate. No one can control what kind of future a person will have; it is predetermined long in advance, and not even one’s parents can change one’s fate.”
God’s words shocked her heart and made her understand: Man’s life comes from God and everyone’s fate is closely connected with God’s sovereignty and predestination. One’s birth, growing up and death all regularly go forward under the orchestration of God’s hand, everyone has his own course of life arranged by God and no one can escape this kind of law. She couldn’t help but think: As a parent, her responsibility in the process of her son’s birth and growing up is just birth and childrearing. What her son will experience in his life or when he will pass away both have the orbit of fate that God has traced out for him and have God’s appropriate arrangements. As a created being, the necessary reason she should equip with is to obey God’s orchestration and arrangement. Whether her son will live or die, she should face it bravely and calmly. After understanding God’s will, she calmed down slowly. Though every minute and second was a kind of torment for her, she no longer felt afraid and helpless. As for her son’s life and death, she would commit it to God for she knew at that time God was beside her and was with her through the darkest moment before dawn.
At that time, the phone rang. She hurriedly picked it up and her younger sister’s exciting and incoherent voice came on the line, “Sister, sister, the miracle has appeared. It’s incredible! Gu Feng … Gu Feng is breathing again … He continues living again …” Putting down the phone, she felt both surprised and excited, tears flowing down her cheeks. She continuously thanked God in her heart because it was God who allowed her son to continue living again miraculously.
Firecrackers were sputtering again, recurrently, and the morning was finally come. As for Yueju, that night was so long and breathtaking. But she thanked God very much because when she was in the most desperate and painful time, it was God who silently watched by her side and was with her through the unbearable night. She really didn’t dare to imagine that without the comfort and support of God’s words, whether she could go through that night. Maybe she had already felt so much pain that she did not want to live, or maybe …
After experiencing that night when her son faced death, she gained the most precious thing in her life and truly tasted that God’s love for man is so practical: When she was willing to rely on God sincerely and submit to His design and arrangement, His care and mercy would befall her; God was always watching by her side and used His words to guide and lead her through the darkest moment in her life. She also understood: In the face of death, affection and money are so pale and weak. Only the breath of life from God ceaselessly provides for mankind. God is man’s true and only support. God’s love for her is worthy for her to spend her whole life following and repaying.
Nowadays, her son has recovered and left the hospital and their life has recovered the former harmony. Every time when she saw her son’s bright smile, she would recall that unforgettable night and silently offer thanks and praise to God in her heart.