By Fang Zheng

Whenever I recalled my son’s illness when he was little, I couldn’t help but thank God from the bottom of my heart. It was God who saved my son and made my faith in God stronger. That unforgettable experience still remains fresh in my memory.

The weather was very cold at the end of that year. My four-year-old son suddenly got a fever, so my husband took him to the town hospital for treatment. After some days, my son still had a high fever, and the doctor could not tell why. My husband and I were very anxious. After the Chinese New Year, we hurriedly took our son to the county hospital for examination. A doctor saw our son’s condition and said resignedly, “Nothing out of the ordinary turns up through all the standard examinations. Your son cannot last like this. I suggest you take him to the city hospital!” After hearing the doctor’s words, I immediately became anxious and worried, thinking, “The doctor advised us to transfer my son to the city hospital. It seems that his illness is serious. What if his illness can not be cured?” At that time, I thought that I was a believer in the Lord. So, I quickly prayed to the Lord in my heart, “Lord, please have mercy on my son. You created everything, and man’s life is in Your hands. I trust You will heal his illness.” After praying, I thought of the Lord Jesus’ words: “For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:8). From the words of the Lord Jesus, I realized: God is faithful. As long as I pray sincerely, the Lord will listen to my prayers. I believe that no matter how serious my son’s illness is, when I pray to God, God will make my son healthy. I must have faith in God! Thinking of this, I felt peaceful and at ease, and I was willing to entrust my son’s illness in the hands of the Lord.

Afterward, my husband and I took our son to the municipal hospital. It just so happened that a few famous doctors from the provincial hospital were coming to the municipal hospital for a consultation. We hurriedly took our son to them for a consultation. They gave my son a comprehensive checkup. Then, a doctor said, “There is a small pustule on your son’s lung. He will get better after having an operation tomorrow.” Hearing this, I thought, “The doctor said it’s just a small pustule. Plus the doctors are highly skilled, so my son will definitely be cured.” At this thought, I felt relief. Before the operation, my son had another comprehensive checkup. Unexpectedly, after seeing the test results, the doctor was surprised and said, “The examination showed a pustule yesterday. But why does it disappear today? In this situation, we dare not perform surgery. …” After hearing his words, I could not help but become worried, thinking, “It’s a good thing that my son doesn’t need to have an operation. But he still has a high fever, his whole body is swollen and his belly swells like a snare drum. Moreover, his body runs so hot that he can’t walk anymore. What kind of disease does he get? When could he get better?” At that thought, I was wracked with misery, and my tears flowed down my face. In my agony, I could only call upon the Lord Jesus in my heart.

One day, when I was taking care of my son in the ward, the doctors suddenly came in and said to us, “Your son’s constant high fever results from sepsis, and he requires blood transfusions.” After hearing this, I instantly became nervous and scared. I thought, “Why does my son get this disease? This is incurable. Very few people who have got this disease are cured. My son is so young; can he be cured? What should I do?” Before I could accept the fact, an expert from the provincial hospital said resignedly, “We have used all the necessary medicine and injections except erythromycin injection. Generally, we won’t easily use erythromycin injection. Because once it’s used, other medicine will become useless.” At the doctor’s words, I felt much pain, thinking, “Even the doctors have no idea how to deal with it. Could it be that my son cannot be saved?” Seeing that my son was suffering the torment of illness, my heart was in such inexpressible pain. In my despair and helplessness, I thought of the Lord Jesus, so I quickly prayed to the Lord and relied on Him. After praying, I thought of what was recorded in the Bible: “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be you clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matthew 8:2–3). “And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said to the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; your sins be forgiven you. … (then said He to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. And he arose, and departed to his house” (Matthew 9:2, 6–7). The Lord’s words allowed me to understand that His words are so full of authority that He can make a blind man see or a paralyzed person walk and heal lepers. I believed that as long as I relied on the Lord, He would cure my son. God’s words brought new hope to me when I was despairing and helpless.

After a period of time, seeing that my son still had a high fever, the doctor had no choice but to give my son intravenous infusions of erythromycin for a few days, but it didn’t work at all. The doctor said helplessly, “It would be useless to transfer to other hospitals. No hospital can cure him. You’d better bring him back home.” It seemed that the doctor gave notice that my son would die. I was in extreme despair and helplessness, fearing that I would lose my son. Pain and worry flooded my heart, and I thought, “Is it that my son cannot be cured? Will I helplessly watch my son die? No. I don’t want my son to die …” I was so sad and miserable that I could only keep praying to the Lord, “Lord, even if the doctor gives notice that my son will die, I believe that You are almighty, and that You won’t abandon us. May You give me faith and strength.”

One morning at the end of lunar March, my husband and I took my son out of the hospital. On our way to the train station, my husband suddenly said to me sadly, “How about we leave our son at the train station? Maybe there will be a certain rich person who will take him to receive treatment.” Upon hearing these words, I was angry and thought, “Our son still has a high fever. Wouldn’t he cry even more without our company? He would be so pitiful.” So I replied firmly, “No. I will bring him back home.” And then I thought, “When we reach home, I will seek my brothers and sisters for help and let them pray for my son. I will also pray to the Lord and rely on Him. I believe that the Lord is almighty. Whether my son will be cured or not, it’s all in the hands of God. I’m willing to trust my son’s life and death to the Lord.”

After I got home, I immediately went to the neighboring village to find a sister who had believed in the Lord for many years and asked her to pray for my son. The next day, after hearing that I had taken my son back home, my mother came to visit us and after lunch, we went back to my mother’s house. Because my parents both believed in the Lord and their house is a host home, many brothers and sisters came to pray for my son when they knew my son’s condition. After they prayed, my son’s high fever receded a lot. I was very happy because of seeing the Lord’s great power and that God really worked! My son’s fever did not recede as quickly even though he took medicine and was on a drip in the hospital. However, after brothers and sisters prayed to the Lord together, his fever subsided. I saw the hope of my son’s recovery. Unexpectedly, my son’s fever came back the next day. I wondered, “Why is this happening? Why does my son have a fever again?” Brothers and sisters told me that the Lord required my faith. Hearing their words, I thought, “Yes, I must continue praying. I can’t give up or lose hope. I must hold onto my faith in the Lord.” Then my parents and I fasted and prayed to the Lord, kneeling on the ground. At that time, I thought of the scriptures, “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the hem of His garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned Him about, and when He saw her, He said, Daughter, be of good comfort; your faith has made you whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour” (Matthew 9:20–22) “Jesus said, Take you away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, said to Him, Lord, by this time he stinks: for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Said I not to you, that, if you would believe, you should see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I knew that You hear Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me. And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them, Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:39–44). From the scriptures, I realized that the Lord Jesus’ words are authoritative and powerful, and that the Lord requires people’s faith. The woman who was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years was recovered by touching the Lord Jesus’ garment. Lazarus was dead for four days, and the Lord Jesus resurrected him just by speaking. The Lord is so powerful. So I prayed, “Lord, you can resurrect the dead, make the lame walk, the blind see, the dumb speak, and the deaf hear, and heal the lepers. I believe you can also heal my child’s disease.” I kneeled before the Lord Jesus to pray with tears every day and firmly believed that one day the Lord would show His mercy and heal my son’s illness.

About a week later, the brothers and sisters from my village came to pray for my son’s illness. At about midnight, I heard my husband shouting: “Get up quickly to see our son! What’s wrong with him?” I immediately rushed to my son and touched his body. I surprisedly found that his belly was soft, no longer swollen, and that his fever subsided. Seeing that my son’s condition improved, I said excitedly, “Oh, it’s really the Lord’s mercy. My son sweats and no longer has a high fever. The swelling of his whole body goes down.” My family were very happy, and I was excited and repeatedly said, “Thank the Lord! Thank the Lord! I am so thankful to the Lord. It is the Lord Jesus who healed my child.”

The next day, my husband and I happily took our child home. Because of the high fever for a few months, my son couldn’t walk and was skinny. Apart from taking care of him every day, I still insisted on praying for him. One day, when my husband and I were busy in the yard, I suddenly saw our son walking slowly into the yard. I happily said, “Oh, my child can walk again.” As I spoke, I quickly ran to my son and picked him up. I couldn’t express my joy with words, and I could only keep thanking the Lord in my heart for His great love and mercy for us.

Gradually, my son became healthy day by day without any sequelae left. From my son’s story, I saw the authority and power of God, and understood that God rules everything and that He can do everything that is impossible to humans. In the hospital, the doctor had given up on the treatment of my son, but when I eagerly prayed to God, God showed great miracles and healed my son. This showed me that the life and death of human beings are in the hands of God, and that God rules everything. It was God who gave my son a second life. At a church meeting, when brothers and sisters knew that the Lord Jesus had healed my son’s serious illness, they all said, “The Lord’s power is so great, and He is so omnipotent!” I made up my mind and wished to closely follow the Lord, testify the salvation of the Lord Jesus to more people, so that they would come before the Lord. Thanks be to God! Amen!