Seeing God’s Salvation in a Disaster

By Li Wei

It was raining heavily on 17 August night, like pouring down from the sky, and there was no sign of stopping until the next afternoon.

In the afternoon, at about 5:30, I was off duty. Wearing my raincoat, I was moving with great difficulty in the thigh-deep water. My home was seven or eight miles away from my workplace, and when I was halfway, I got so exhausted, and my legs felt sore and numb. It was already 7 o’clock. In the darkened night, a blackout swept over the whole county, causing it to become daker. No one was in sight. I had to struggle to walk toward home, hoping to go back soon.

When I went to a crossroad, the rainwater was already waist high. I remembered there was a big hole, freshly dug, as huge as a room, 5 meters deep. The road was very narrow, and I had to walk along the side of the road to avoid falling into the hole. But suddenly my raincoat was caught on something iron, causing me to fall into the water. I was trying to touch the ground and stand up. But I failed because it was deep. And I floated up with my face up. My body couldn’t reach the ground and I couldn’t keep my head out of water. My mind was just blank in such an emergency situation, and I had no idea whether I was in that hole or somewhere else. To avoid choking, I immediately held my breath and closed my eyes, thrashing about in the water. After struggling for a while, I could hold nothing. I wanted to stand up, but my raincoat wrapped my body, preventing me from moving. And my legs didn’t work at all. I was so scared. Was I going to die here? Due to the survival instinct, I continued to flop around and tried to grab something, but I failed again. For me, who didn’t know how to swim, all efforts were in vain. I was in a panic and thinking about what to do. After three or four minutes, I couldn’t hold my breath. The moment I opened my mouth, the rainwater flowed into my mouth. I shut my mouth and continued to struggle in the water. After a while, I really had no strength, and had to lie in the water weakly. I tried my best to hold my breath, with my eyes closed, feeling so desperate. It was still raining, and the power didn’t restore. Who would come out to save me? My children thought I was in my factory, and my boss thought I was home. No one would know even if I died here. Was it my day to die?

I didn’t want to die like this. My whole body was floating in the water, with my feet suspended, my head under the water. Even when someone was passing by, he was unable to see me. All I could do was wait to die. … In desperation, I was suddenly reminded that I was a believer in God, and it was like grasping the opportunity of a lifetime. I restored my desire to survive, so I kept calling upon God in my heart, “God, please help me, save me … My life and death are in Your hand. I know there is Your good intention behind the thing I am facing …” Gradually, I was getting unconscious.

I heard someone shout, “Help, help …” Then someone grabbed my body and dragged me out of the water. I was almost in a coma. Though I closed my eyes, I didn’t stop saying, “God, save me …” That person, a woman, said surprisingly, “You are a believer? So am I. Thank God.” Later, she asked me where I was going. I had no energy and told her my address. She took me to an intersection and left.

The scene in the water still haunted me after I arrived home, so I couldn’t help but cry. The sister who lived upstairs visited me after hearing I was back. I told her about the whole breathtaking thing in tears.

She cared about me and said, “Today, you have been found by a person and came back alive. This is out of God’s protection. God didn’t allow you to die. If we gain some truths through the experience, we are not living in vain. You used to say, there’s no such thing as a free lunch and people cannot live without money. I believe you didn’t think about anything except how to survive. Clearly, even a great amount of money cannot save your life at crucial moments. Without God today, you will surely die.”

After hearing what she said, I began to reflect on myself. After I put my faith in God, I indeed gained peace and joy. But my family needed money in all aspects, I only thought about how to make more money every day. And I was not satisfied when I earned some money, and I wanted more. In this way, I didn’t pray and attend gatherings regularly, thinking gathering prevented me from making money. Afterward, I even completely stopped attending gatherings, and my heart became more and more distant from God. I actually didn’t plan to go to work in the morning, because it rained heavily outside, but I went to work to make more money. As a result, I almost drowned. In the water, I was tightly wrapped by my raincoat and unable to get rid of it. I was so powerless and only waited to die. In that situation, money couldn’t save me. Without God arranging someone to save me, I would have died already.

I felt ashamed after thinking of this. I was so disobedient, but God still saved me in times of danger. So I said to the sister, “You are right. It was God’s protection. It was 7 o’clock, the rain was pouring, and the water was deep enough. No one was on the dark road. Even if some passed by, he possibly couldn’t see me. But after I cried out to God, someone appeared to save me. If she didn’t show up, I would have definitely died today. This experience allowed me to know people without money can live one, but people without God cannot.” The sister nodded.

I truly experienced the practical meaning of what the Lord Jesus said, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 26:16). That is so true. Nothing is more important than life. Without life, everything we have will turn disastrous. Besides, the Bible says, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” Yes, that’s right. Money and fame are temporary, and we cannot take them away when we die. Living in the world, if we have food and clothing, we should be content with that. Since I began to believe in God, He has cared for me at any moment, so I should believe in and follow God in earnest and spend for God to repay His love. This is what a created being should do.