By Luo Cheng
“Jesus! All things are possible with You; I wholeheartedly rely on You, My Lord!”
Every time I hear the hymn of praise “All Things Are Possible With You,” my heart is always filled with gratitude and praise to God. Before, when I was afflicted with a terminal disease, it was God who extended His hand of salvation to me and pulled me back from the brink of death …
In March, 2003 when SARS was raging in the country, I was doing business in Guangzhou. Afraid that I would get infected with SARS, my wife kept urging me to return to our hometown. After I came back, she shared the gospel with me, and since then I began running my textile business while also practicing my faith in God and attending gatherings.
One day in October that year, I caught a slight cough. At first, I didn’t pay it much mind, but to my surprise, my cough became more and more terrible until I began to cough up blood a few days later. Frightened, I went to the hospital for an examination, which confirmed that I had late stage tuberculosis. The doctor said there was a big hole in my lung, and that because my illness had already become advanced, the chance of successfully treating it was very low. Hearing these words come out of his mouth, I felt like I’d been struck by lightning and just couldn’t accept this reality. I thought: “I am so young, and there are so many things I want to do. Will my life end just like this? Considering the severity of my illness, the treatment will definitely cost a lot of money. If we spend all our money but I don’t get better, then how will my wife and child survive the future? …” Overwhelmed by this unexpected illness, I immediately prayed to the Lord: “O Lord! I beg You to save me. The doctor said I have late stage tuberculosis which is difficult to cure, and I feel so frightened and pained now. Lord, may You help me and guide me.” After praying, I felt a little calmer. Just then the doctor said to me: “Although your illness cannot be completely cured given its advanced stage, there is a kind of Japanese medicine for tuberculosis which is free of charge. Perhaps you can give it a try.” What the doctor said reignited my hopes and I agreed to accept the treatment. He then prescribed me two best medications they had and I returned home.
After I got home, I told my wife about my test results. To my surprise, she just looked a little shocked and soon regained her composure, saying: “Don’t worry. You’re gonna be fine. We have God to rely on. God holds sovereignty over everything and administers all things, and your illness is also in His hands. We must have faith in God….” Hearing my wife’s fellowship, I made a prayer of submission to God expressing my willingness to rely on God to experience this situation, and after that my heart felt much more secure and calm.
In the days that followed, I often prayed to the Lord asking Him to cure me, and meanwhile I persisted in taking medicine on the doctor’s suggestion. Two months later I went to have a checkup, only to find that there wasn’t the slightest improvement in my condition. I felt somewhat disheartened—why didn’t God cure me? I lost my faith in God. During that time, I didn’t dare to go out but stayed at home all day long, and often vomited blood. After taking medicine for another three months, I still wasn’t getting any better. One day when I went to the hospital for another checkup, the director (a relative of mine) shook his head as he said to me: “Your father died of this disease. Your tuberculosis is a genetic disorder which is hard to cure. We have used the best medicine we have, but your illness is still no better. Now there is nothing else I can do for you. I advise you to go home and eat some nice food while you still can—good nutrition may make you feel better….” These words plunged me into utter despair. My entire body became limp and weak, my legs were trembling, and I became so panicked and afraid, feeling as if I could die at any time.
Learning that I was living within a negative state, my wife fellowshiped with me: “The Lord Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life.’ God’s words are the truth, which hold authority and power. We mustn’t lose faith in Him. Think about it: When the Lord Jesus was working, He performed many miracles, such as bringing the dead back to life, making the blind see, and healing lepers. And there was a woman who had an issue of blood twelve years and who didn’t get better even after having spent all she had. Later, she relied on her faith in the Lord and touched the Lord’s garment, and immediately she was cured of her disease. Aren’t all these things the facts that God has already achieved? As long as you have faith in God, I believe you will also see God’s wondrous deeds.”
My wife’s fellowship alleviated my fears and I thought: “It’s true. Although my lips said I relied on God, in my heart I actually didn’t have much faith in Him and I relied on the doctors much more than on God. It seems that doctors can’t be depended on, neither can medicine, and that my only hope and support now is God. The God I believe in is almighty, who is constantly supplying my life. Isn’t whether or not I get well and whether I live or die controlled by God?” Coming to this realization, I prayed silently in my heart, saying: “O Lord! I have such little faith in You. When I heard the director say that there was no cure for my illness, I felt desperate and lost faith in You. This allowed me to see that I didn’t have genuine faith in You. Now through my wife’s fellowship, I came to understand that my life is in Your hands, and that You are the resurrection and have great power. I wish to change my views, truly rely on You, and entrust my life into Your hands. No matter what will happen in the future, I’m willing to obey Your orchestration and arrangements.”
Because my condition was very serious and I often vomited blood, I was so depleted that I could only lie on my bed all day long. The brothers and sisters in the church often came to visit me, they prayed for me and encouraged me to have faith in God. Buoyed up by them, my conditions improved a lot and I began to frequently read the Bible, pray and sing hymns of praise to God. Gradually, I felt I had restored some strength, my cough got better, and I vomited blood less often. At that time, I learned that there was a man in the neighboring village who had had the same illness as me that hadn’t reached an advanced stage. He had spent tens of thousands of yuan on treatments but never got better and, a few months later, he passed away. The villagers all said that it was incredible that I didn’t die despite the fact that I contracted the disease earlier and my condition was more serious. Hearing this, I knew it was all because of God’s protection for me, and I was truly so thankful to God!
Having seen God’s protection, my faith in God grew and I began to perform the duties in the church that I was able to, and my illness completely slipped my mind. Later, I felt the medicine always upset my stomach, plus it didn’t work at all, so I decided to stop the treatment and simply rely on the Lord Jesus by faith. One month later, I was surprised to find that my cough got a lot better and that I vomited blood even less. When I went to the hospital for a checkup two months later, the doctor said in amazement as he looked at my scans: “Your lung has almost completely recovered. What a miracle! It has been a long time since you last came here. I thought you were dead.” Hearing what the doctor said, I knew clearly that this was all thanks to God’s great power and that it was God who cured me. I had contracted a disease which people saw as incurable, and didn’t get better even though the doctor had used the best medicine. However, when I truly relied on God and entrusted my illness into His hands, it actually disappeared without me realizing it. I experienced God’s love and also personally witnessed His great power and authority!
Later, whenever people who know me asked about how I was cured of my disease, I would testify to them that it was God who saved me. Now I have been free of tuberculosis for fourteen years, during which time I’ve never had a relapse. Besides, I am able to do any kind of heavy work now, without any trace of ever being terminally ill. I give thanks to God for His love and salvation for me. Amen!
