By Gan’en
I was born in a little fishing village, which is located on a small island surrounded by the sea. I have a passion for the sea, especially for the precious treasures in it, so I often go fishing. In 2008, my wife accepted God’s kingdom gospel. And in 2011, she preached God’s kingdom gospel to me, and told me that God is almighty, and that no matter what difficulty one encounters, as long as he truly relies on God, God will care for and protect him.
At first, I doubted her words and wondered if God was really that almighty. Later, through personally experiencing two matters, I became certain of God.
At first, I doubted her words and wondered if God was really that almighty. Later, through personally experiencing two matters, I became certain of God.
One morning in May, 2013, the day was quite clear and the sky was cloudless. I went to the seaside and saw some boats had put out to sea. I got impatient, so I rushed home and told my son, “Today I will go fishing, so you need to cook for yourself.” He said, “Last night the weather forecast said there will be a strong wind today.” No sooner had he said that than I replied, “It’s such a nice day, without a breath of wind. And others have all gone fishing on the sea. If a wind arises, I will come back. No need to worry.” So saying, I hastened to take the boat out. At around 7 o’clock in the morning, I caught a few big fish in a while. I was quite delighted, when I noticed that the wind was blowing up and lashing the calm sea into waves, and meanwhile, a dark mass of cloud was floating up from the north. Aware that a strong wind was coming soon, I got extremely nervous, and reeled in the fishing line quickly. Then I exerted all my strength to scull. After a while, as the wind was getting stronger and stronger, the waves were beating against my small boat, and my boat was rolling from side to side like a leaf. Due to the change of the wind, my scull suddenly broke in two. I immediately fished up the half scull from the water, thinking: That’s done it! Since the scull broke, I can’t make it home. What shall I do? At that time, a howling wind of force 8 or 9 was blowing, and my boat, like foam, was rocked violently by the waves, and kept taking in water. Drenched through with the seawater, I shivered all over with cold, and my hands and feet were out of my control. Seeing I was all alone on the whole boundless sea, I didn’t know what I should do, and tears burst from my eyes. In despair, I thought of Almighty God, so I ceaselessly cried out, “O Almighty God! Please help me! My life and death are all in Your hands….” I shouted, earnestly expecting a boat to come and save me, yet none appeared. Then I caught a sight of a row of scallop culture raft. I thought: It’s a good opportunity. I should quickly attach my boat to the raft so that it will stop drifting. So I casted the anchor toward the scallop culture raft, but I failed because of the wind and waves. Just as I was frustrated at my failure, another row of scallop culture rafts came into view. I was thrown into ecstasies, thinking: Now I will be saved. So I hastily hooked the boat onto the scallop culture rafts with the anchor. Only then did I feel somewhat at ease, because the boat wouldn’t drift any further. At that time, it was already around 1:00 p.m. Drenched and cold, I huddled myself up, and a sense of desolation overwhelmed me. I thought to myself: Won’t I freeze to death if no one comes to save me? In the past, I just heard that someone was missing after he went to sea; but now such situation comes upon me. It is really terrible! What if something bad happens to me? At this thought, I didn’t dare to go on imagining. In a panic, I prayed to God urgently in my heart, “O God! I nearly lose hope in myself, and I have no idea as to what to do in this situation. O God, I wish for You to lead me. I’m willing to rely on You. O God! May You protect me….” I prayed to God nonstop in my heart, and after a while, God’s words occurred to me: “When the waters swallow men whole, I save them from the stagnant waters and give them a chance to have life anew. When men lose their confidence to live, I pull them up from the brink of death, granting them the courage to live, that they take Me as the foundation of their existence” (“The Fourteenth Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe). My heart immediately brightened. Regardless of the cold and hunger, I contemplated God’s words silently. It’s true. God is the only support that enables man to survive. I believe God can orchestrate everything. And I should entrust my life and death to God and never lose confidence in Him. God’s words increased my confidence and courage to go on living. Pondering God’s words, I observed the sea carefully, and found that the wind and waves had lessened their violence. I was so glad that I kept offering my thanks to God. I thought: All matters and all things are indeed under the orchestration of God. As long as I have faith in God, He will save me. So I seized the chance to bevel the edges of the ends of the two broken sculls with a knife, bring the two beveled ends into alignment, and then bind them together with a line. When I finally managed to have the sculls tied up, I put it into the sea and rowed several strokes with it. Finding it all right, I untied the ropes and started to row. But the scull soon went twisted after I rowed a few strokes, and it didn’t work well at all. My boat was blown much further by the gale. Just when I was worried, another row of scallop culture rafts came into my view. I thought: This is the last row of rafts, I should be more cautious. Then I quickly hooked the rafts with the anchor, and tied my boat to it. When I turned round, I found myself further away from the shore. Then it was already over 3:00 p.m., and the icy sea wind chilled me to the bone. I sat still in the boat, seeing that I was drifting alone on the boundless sea, and only then did I realize how insignificant man is. Time and again, I earnestly cried out to God in my heart, “O God! I’m willing to rely on and look to You. I believe only You can save me. O God! Please save me! Save me! …” Right at this moment, I suddenly sighted a big boat coming toward me. Thank God! Now I will be saved. At last, the big boat pulled my boat to the shore.
Ever since I ran into danger that time, my whole family didn’t allow me to go fishing. However, because I was keen on fishing, they spent over 2,000 yuan buying me an outboard motor. And for safety’s sake, they also bought a scull. So I took it for granted that there would be nothing to worry about, no matter what the weather was like. But things were always beyond all imagination.
One day in October, 2016, the weather forecast said that there would be a strong wind that evening and the next day. The islanders preferred to go fishing before a wind came. For at that time all the fish will come out in search of food and fill themselves up to prepare for the coming stormy waves, which is the habit of fish. The fish like to bite before a strong wind comes, so during that time people will catch much more fish than usual. Seeing all the fishing boats of the island had put out to sea, my son and I also finished our work early so as to seize the good opportunity to catch more fish. We came to the seaside, and hauled my boat to the beach, ready to get onto the boat for fishing. At this time, one of my friends was also going fishing. His boat was a big one with a 60-horsepower engine, and had been at anchor far away from the shore. I consented to his request of sending him to his boat. But when he got into my boat, I just couldn’t start the outboard motor. I could not help but scull my boat to his. When getting into his boat, my friend said to me, “Don’t waste time. Let my boat pull yours to go fishing and afterward pull yours back to the shore.” I was very glad to hear that, because in that way I could save the cost of oil. When my boat was pulled to the fishing spot, I untied the ropes (due to the difference of our fishing spots and the currents). After that, I got absorbed in fishing, without noticing that my boat was gradually drifting further away from my friend’s boat. At around 2:00 p.m., a wind of force 6 or 7 arose on the sea. Meanwhile, my son was somewhat seasick and wanted to go ashore. I got anxious, so I put forth my strength to row toward my friend’s big boat. However, as the sea was so rough, I was soon exhausted. I said to myself: Anyway, the large boat will tow my boat back whenever it’s leaving. Right then, there was a large outboard motorboat sailing toward us. The men in the boat were driving ashore in view of the bad weather. So I waved them to come to us, shouting, “Could you do me a favor? My outboard motor doesn’t work. Could your boat tow mine back to the shore?” Without any hesitation, they came close to us; my son passed the rope to them, and they fastened it to the post in the stern of their boat; then their boat, towing ours, headed directly toward the shore. After sailing for almost half an hour, we came to the confluence of the counter currents between two islands, and the waves were so heavy that my son and I were both wet to the skin. As this area was a dangerous juncture, I panicked and hoped that nothing would go wrong. But something unexpected happened. Three huge waves broke over our boat in succession, and my boat separated from theirs. Then my boat, like a leaf, turned round and round with the waves. At this sight, they didn’t dare to turn around to save us, for if they did so, they would be in a more dangerous situation, and they simply sailed away in a hurry. My son and I were left dumbfounded all at once. At this moment, I thought of Almighty God, so I desperately cried out in my heart, “O Almighty God! Please help us! Our life and death are in Your hands. O God, I beg You to protect us.” While praying, I quickly brought the bow into the wave, for if the boat broached, it would be immediately overturned by the huge waves. I repeatedly cried out to Almighty God, “O God! You are beside us all the time. Our lives are in Your hands, and today our life and death are also determined by You. I wish for You to protect us.” After praying, I gazed at the outboard motor, and suddenly had an idea: I should wind the handle of the outboard motor to see whether it can work. Then I watched the sea, and immediately after a huge wave beat against my boat I took the handle and said, “O Almighty God, whether I live or die today rests in Your palm,” quickly turning the handle of the outboard motor. Unexpectedly, a miracle happened. The outboard motor started all of a sudden. I was thrilled to bits, and unceasingly offered my gratitude to God. God once again protected me from the disaster and helped us out of the whirlpool and waves.
After we went back to the shore, the men, whose boat had ever towed ours, ran over and asked us, “How did you manage to escape? It was so dangerous!” I replied, “It was Heaven that saved us.” This matter enabled me to witness Almighty God’s miraculous deed as well as His sovereignty.
Later, I read God’s words saying: “The whole of mankind has always been among My provision; if it were not so, if I were not merciful, who would have survived until today? The riches in Me are without equal, yet all disaster is also held within My hands—and who is able to escape from disaster whenever they please?” (“The Twenty-first Utterance” of God’s Utterances to the Entire Universe). “Who can exempt themselves from His sovereignty? And who can discharge themselves from His designs? All things exist beneath His gaze, and moreover, all things live beneath His sovereignty” (“Man Can Only Be Saved Amidst the Management of God”). I had seen the fulfillment of these words of God. From the two disasters, I had seen that had it not been for God’s mercy and protection, I would have long ago got drowned in the sea. At the same time, I had appreciated that God’s authority arranges everything; all disasters are controlled by God’s hand, and no one can escape; only when one genuinely relies on and looks up to God, can he be protected by God and see God’s miraculous deeds. Moreover, I had also seen God’s faithfulness and experienced that God is by man’s side at all times and will provide assistance whenever man needs it, as long as man sincerely cries to Him. Thank Almighty God for His salvation. I will follow God closely. All the glory be to the only true almighty God!
From:Salvation by God’s Grace
Recommendation:Eastern Lightning, Know more of the Church of Almighty God
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