In January of 2013, my relative preached the gospel to me. I knew believing in God was a nice thing and could make us walk on the right path, so I accepted it and participated in church life. Three months later, when I saw my neighbor went to other parts of the country for work and made more money, I was tempted, thinking that only after making a lot of money could I live a good life. Thus, I decided to work away from home. In a meeting, I talked that thought. After listening to it, brothers and sisters fellowshiped with me, “Now you can attend meetings as you work in our hometown. If you work away from home, the workplace will be unfixed and thus you will be unable to participate in church life. We should be responsible for our own lives. No matter how much money you have, if your life suffer losses for that, and then what meaning will this have?” But I didn’t regard their words, and I still went to a brick and kiln factory in another part of the country for work. At the beginning, I could remember brothers and sisters’ words: In your spare time, read God’s words and pray to God more. When you encounter a problem, rely on and look to God. But as some time passed away, I put my mind to making money, and then I read God’s words or pray to God less, becoming further and further from God.
On the night of December 18, my boss Mr. Zhang treated a few staffs of us to dinner. At table, he said, “Next year, you work hard, and I’ll give all of you a pay raise.” Hearing his words, we all answered happily, “Okay!” After our meal, Mr. Zhang asked the driver to drive us back to our factory dormitory. One of my colleagues and I sat in the back seats of the car, and the driver and Mr. Zhang’s son sat in the front seats. On the way, we were talking happily. Just then, the driver’s phone rang. He answered the phone and said, “We’re almost there. Don’t you know phone calls are dangerous in driving?” Just when the driver put down his cell phone, a car suddenly came up from the opposite direction. My colleague said, “Oh, no! Where does the car come …” Before he could finish, with a thud, I felt very hurt in my neck and then passed out.
When coming to, I found I was leaning over the back of the front seat. Dizzy, I straightened up staggeringly, seeing that all were in a mess inside the car, and that even the seat was askew. I was extremely scared, thinking: We had a car accident. I am a stranger here. What should I do? At the moment, I suddenly remembered: Am I not a believer in God? Then I called out to God in my heart: Oh, God! Tonight I got into a car accident in the wilds. I don’t know what I should do. Oh, God! May You save us.” After praying, my heart quieted down little by little. Then I saw my colleague lying there, with his face bleeding. I called him several times, but he was still not responding. The driver slumped over the steering wheel, without a movement. It took me some time to wake him up. I said to him hurriedly, “We had an accident. Quickly, make a phone call to ask others to save us.” When I turned to another side, I saw the seat was upturned over Mr. Zhang’s son. I hurriedly moved the seat, and supported him. I called him but he didn’t respond. I thought: Is he dead? Thinking of this, I was even more scared.
In a short time, Mr. Zhang and some people came to the spot and first sent his ten-year-old son to the hospital. When I got out of the car, I noticed that because of hitting a concrete block, the head of the car was already out of recognition. And I couldn’t find my shoes. After a while, we were sent to the hospital as well. Because of serious injury on the head, my colleague had a major operation that very night, with a loss of an eye. It took him over a hundred thousand yuan to be saved. Mr. Zhang’s son died despite rescue measures. The driver had several stitches on the back of his head. Among us, only I was slightly injured, merely with a little bruise on the face.
Several days later when I went to work, the boss Mr. Yang asked me, “The car ran into a concrete block, and even the head of the car was destroyed while you were safe. How lucky you were! Which seat did you sit then?” I answered, “The right one on the back.” “According to common sense, you should have also been seriously injured, but you were the only one that was slightly injured. How unbelievable!” I thought: Thank God! It’s God that kept me.
Afterward, I saw God’s words, “Almighty God, the practical God! You are our impregnable fortress. You are our refuge. We huddle under Your wings, and calamity cannot reach us. Such is Your divine protection and care.” In the past, I didn’t understand the true meaning of these words. However, through this experience, I really experienced how God cared for and kept man. Then I saw more of God’s words, “He does not want to sacrifice a single soul, and He does not wish to lose one single soul more; man, meanwhile, cares not for his own fate. So who loves you most in this world? You do not love yourself, you do not know to cherish or treasure your own life—God has the greatest love for man.” After reading God’s words, I was really moved. It turned out that God is standing beside me at every moment, protecting and keeping me. Recalling the time when I decided to leave home to work, brothers and sisters advised me genuinely: Don’t continue aspiring after money anymore. We should be responsible for our own lives. Ignoring their advice, I came here for making good money, but I couldn’t participate in church life, and even read God’s word and prayed to God less, there being almost no place for God in my heart. I believed in God, but I didn’t treasure God’s salvation. For such deeds of mine, God, didn’t abandon me but protect me in the crisis, being responsible for my life. The more I thought about it, the more I felt I was too indebted to God. In self-blame, I secretly resolved to do my best to believe in God and follow God in the future.
In late that December, I started my journey home. After getting home, I contacted brothers and sisters and led the life of the church again. Once, when I was practicing spiritual devotion, I saw these words of God: “‘Money makes the world go round’ is a philosophy of Satan, and it prevails among the whole of mankind, in every human society. You could say that it is a trend because it has been instilled in the heart of every single person. From the very beginning, people did not accept this saying, but then they gave it tacit acceptance when they came into contact with real life, and began to feel that these words were in fact true. Is this not a process of Satan corrupting man? … So after Satan uses this trend to corrupt people, how is it manifested in them? Do you feel that you could not survive in this world without any money, that even one day without money would be impossible? People’s status is based on how much money they have, as is the respect they command. The backs of the poor are bent in shame, while the rich enjoy their high status. They stand tall and proud, speaking loudly and living arrogantly. What does this saying and trend bring to people? Is it not true that many people make any sacrifice in the pursuit of money? Do many people not lose their dignity and integrity in the pursuit of more money? Moreover, do many people not lose the opportunity to perform their duty and follow God for the sake of money? Is this not a loss for people? (Yes.) Is Satan not sinister to use this method and this saying to corrupt man to such a degree? Is this not a malicious trick? As you progress from objecting to this popular saying to finally accepting it as truth, your heart falls completely into Satan’s grasp, and therefore you inadvertently come to live by the saying. To what degree has this saying affected you? You might know the true way, and you might know the truth, but you are powerless to pursue it. You may clearly know that God’s words are the truth, but you are unwilling to pay the price or to suffer in order to gain the truth. Instead, you would rather sacrifice your own future and destiny to resist God to the very end. No matter what God says, no matter what God does, no matter whether you understand how deep and how great God’s love for you is, you would stubbornly insist on having your own way and pay the price for this saying. That is to say, this saying already controls your behavior and your thoughts, and you would rather have your fate controlled by it than give it all up.” Through God’s words, I finally knew that these are evil points of views instilled in us by Satan, such as: “Money makes the mare go,” “Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can do nothing,” “Money is first,” and so on. Under the influence of these views, we advocate money and put money above all else, living for and dying for it. Looking back, in order to make money to enjoy a better material life, I didn’t take believing in God seriously and ignored the love of brothers and sisters. At that time, everything I thought was how to make money, so that I was further and further from God. How stupid and ignorant I was! In this accident, my colleague had a major operation on his head, spent a lot of money and suffered a loss of an eye; as to Mr. Zhang, he was rich, but his wealth didn’t save his son’s life. When the car accident befell us, money paled into insignificance and appeared useless. Without God’s protection, no amount of money can buy life. Thus, we could see that “Money makes the mare go,” “Money isn’t everything, but without it, you can do nothing,” “Money is first”—these viewpoints are the heretical fallacies of Satan deceiving and deluding us and the lies of Satan corrupting and fooling us, and even more the stings that deceive us and distance us from God.
Later, I saw another passage of God’s words, “So what exactly does God give to man? Does He only give you a little care, concern and consideration without your being aware of it? What has God given to man? God has given life to man, given man everything, and bestows all this on man unconditionally without demanding anything, without any ulterior motive. He uses the truth, His words, and His life to lead and guide man, bringing man away from the harm of Satan, away from Satan’s temptations and inducements, allowing man to see clearly through Satan’s evil nature and hideous face. Is God’s love and concern for mankind true? Is it something that every one of you can experience? (Yes.)” From God’s word, I understood: God created us humans, and has continued to provide what we need for our lives and care for us day and night; what’s more, He endows us with the truth for His substance is selfless. Although I rebelled God, in the critical time, He still protected me. His love for me was real and true. Through this experience, my wrong outlook on life was corrected. I deeply experienced that it’s most precious only that we follow God and pursue and gain the truth. Only under God’s protection and care can we live a peaceful and steady life. I made up my mind: From now on, I am willing to pursue the truth and perform the duty of a created being to return God’s love to me.