Being used to hearing the saying of “money is not everything, but without it, you can do nothing,” I always attached much significance to money and tried every conceivable way to make lots of it.

After my parents started to believe in God, they testified about the gospel of God’s kingdom to me. They told me that having just sufficient money for my needs was the right way, and tried to persuade me to pursue the truth and believe in God properly. Though I knew it was good to believe in God, I still thought that making money was more significant, because with money I could buy whatever I wanted and money is something that can be relied on. So I rarely attended church meetings and always tried to figure out how I could leave home and make big money. Not until an incident I will never forget happened to me was my viewpoint changed.

It was one drizzling afternoon. I was walking back home from the market, where I’d bought some things. There was a narrow road I passed along from the market to my home, and there were usually many pedestrians. However, that day it was extraordinarily quiet, and except for me I could see no one on that road. When I got to about three or four hundred meters from my home, I suddenly felt someone was behind me. Before I could turn around, a long sharp knife had been put to my neck. And then a man said to me: “Don’t move, or else my knife will take your life. I’ve killed a person and some people behind us are now chasing me. You must shield me from them. Otherwise, I will kill you too. I’ve killed one person today so I don’t mind killing another.” Subsequently, he pushed me to a tree by the road and put the knife closely to my neck.

I stood under the tree petrified by this sudden turn of events, as if in a dream. As I came to my senses, I knew that I was now the murderer’s hostage. Looking around, I couldn’t see a single person, and felt that my life might be coming to an end. At the time I had no idea who could come to save me. All of a sudden, I thought of God and so I hurriedly prayed to God in my heart: “O God! No one can help me now. And no matter how much more money I have, it won’t save my life. Only You can save me. God! If I can survive this time, I will definitely trust in You earnestly.”

After the prayer my heart calmed down a lot. Then I saw that five or six people in raincoats were running toward me. They seemed to be searching for someone because they were looking everywhere. At that time I was holding up an umbrella while the murderer kept himself closely against my back. I felt he was trembling all over. Though the umbrella and my body were shielding him somewhat, those people would still realize there was someone behind me once they came close. So I pretended to be taking off my trousers, letting them think that I wanted to have a pee. Seeing my actions, they all avoided me and kept running ahead.

Seeing those people had all left, I said to the murderer: “They have all gone. May I leave now?” Yet he insisted: “No. There are still some more people coming.” He twisted the knife that he had put to my neck and I began to get afraid again, afraid that he would kill me if I stirred his anger. I could only cry out to God desperately in my heart. I remembered that God’s words say: “Man’s heart and spirit are held in the hand of God, everything of his life is beheld in the eyes of God. Regardless of whether or not you believe this, any and all things, whether living or dead, will shift, change, renew, and disappear in accordance with God’s thoughts. Such is the way in which God presides over all things.”

Pondering God’s words, I came to understand that my fate was in God’s hand and so was the murderer’s. Without God’s permission, he would do nothing harmful to me. At this thought I became quiet inside, and not as frightened as I’d just been.

I calmed down and said to him: “What are you afraid of? I’m not even afraid. I’m just shielding you. It’s not a big deal. Don’t be nervous. I’ll help you. Now hurry up and put away your knife. Your hand is trembling.” He looked at me in surprise, moved the knife from my neck to my back, and held the knife point to my back. Seeing that he was relaxing a bit, I said purposefully: “Several people up ahead are getting near. Are they hunting for you?” Hearing that, he was so scared that his hand began to tremble again, and he drew back his hand involuntarily. When I felt that the knife had left my back I began to run away in a hurry. I ran and cried for help while he closely chased me. I’d run just a few meters, and saw that he was about to catch me, when suddenly two motorcycles appeared. The people on them heard me cry for help and slowed down. I turned my head and saw that the murderer had hidden his knife behind his back and had obviously slowed down and didn’t dare to come close to me. Then I ran off desperately, and saw that there were now pedestrians on the road.

I ran all the way home. And as soon as I entered home I slumped on the floor and my legs were still trembling. After taking a little breather I went to my room. I stood before the mirror and saw that there was a knife mark and a bit of blood on my neck. A few moments ago, there was not a single pedestrian on the road; then when I ran away and the murderer was about to catch up with me, two motorcycles approached and pedestrians appeared on the road. I realized that all of this was under God’s sovereignty and arrangement. It was God who saved me.

Afterward, I read God’s words, which say: “The Almighty has mercy on these people who have suffered deeply; at the same time, He is fed up with these people who lack consciousness, as He has had to wait too long for an answer from humanity. He wishes to seek, to seek your heart and your spirit, to bring you water and food and to awaken you, that you may no longer be thirsty and hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel something of the bleak desolation of this world, do not be lost, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival at any time. He is keeping watch by your side, waiting for you to turn back around. He is waiting for the day you suddenly recover your memory: when you realize that you came from God, that, at some unknown time you lost your direction, at some unknown time you lost consciousness on the road, and at some unknown time acquired a ‘father’; when you realize, furthermore, that the Almighty has always been keeping watch, waiting there a very, very long time for your return. He has been watching with desperate longing, waiting for a response without an answer. His standing watch is beyond any price, and it is for the sake of the human heart and the human spirit. Perhaps this standing watch is indefinite, and perhaps it is at an end. But you should know exactly where your heart and your spirit are right now.”

From God’s words I felt God’s mercy and love for people. Even though after Satan’s corruption, our hearts and spirits are numb and we ignore God’s salvation, God still doesn’t give up on saving us but keeps watching over and protecting us, awaiting us to have our spirits revived and return to Him one day.

I thought about how my parents often asked me to believe in God properly, read God’s words more, and stop hankering after worldly wealth and material things, which are all empty and can’t help people gain life. But I always turned a deaf ear to what they said and refused to hear their exhortations. Not until this incident happened to me did I come to know that money and material things can’t save my life; only God can. I used to rebel against God, but God has never given up on my salvation. When I was facing danger, He helped me and had mercy on me. I am filled with gratitude to God and determined to properly believe in God, pursue the truth, and perform the duty of a created being to repay God’s love.