In late May 2016, spring was in the air everywhere, all things shining forth with life. However, Meizi was not in the mood to appreciate the beauty of spring. A simple dinner changed her life and cast a pall over her family.

As her daughter-in-law was going to have a baby soon, Meizi quit her job to prepare for the baby’s birth. One day, Meizi cooked more food for dinner than usual and asked her son to have some more. After dinner, her son kept rubbing his stomach with his hands, saying miserably, “Mom, I feel absolutely bloated.” Meizi didn’t take it seriously and said, “Just go for a walk; then you’ll be better.” Yet after the walk, her son’s condition didn’t improve but got worse; he even took some digestive pills, but they didn’t work at all.

On the afternoon of the third day, Meizi’s son couldn’t bear the flatulence anymore, so he closed his shop early and went home. At that time, Meizi realized that it wasn’t just normal flatulence, but a more serious disease, and thus she accompanied her son to hospital to have an examination. After that, the doctor, with knitted brows, said to them, “It seems that he has a tumor in his stomach, but I’m not sure yet; you’d better go to a large hospital to take a further examination.” Hearing this, Meizi couldn’t help feeling nervous: How could my son have a tumor? This can’t be true. Is the examination result wrong? Thinking of this, Meizi felt very anxious.

Then they went to the largest hospital in the city. After her son took a CT scan, several doctors, taking the scans, discussed in a whisper, “I’ve never seen this before. How could he get such a disease at this young age? It’s really a tough case.” As Meizi heard these words, her heart jumped into her throat, and she asked quickly, “How’s my son, doctor? Is it serious?” “Well, we cannot make a diagnosis now,” said a doctor. “How long has he been feeling this way?” “Three days,” Meizi replied. “It’s impossible,” the doctor said. “According to the CT scan, he’s got this illness for at least one year.” Meizi thought to herself: My son often felt bloated when eating too much, but he would be fine after a while; how could it be so serious this time? The more she thought about it, the more worried she became. Dragging heavy footsteps, she kept wandering in the corridors of the hospital.

After returning home, Meizi comforted her son and her daughter-in-law, but she felt as if there was a heavy stone lying on her heart. Late at night, because of the worry about her son, she tossed and turned in bed, with tears falling down continuously. In pain, she came to pray before God, “O God, my son has a serious illness and needs to be hospitalized, and my daughter-in-law is going to have a baby. Facing these things, I’m lost and have no idea what to do. O God, please lead and guide me.” After she prayed, God’s words clearly occurred to her, “Do not on any account let grievances arise in your heart, or God will not bestow His grace upon you.” Thinking of God’s words, Meizi suddenly woke up and thought: Everything is in God’s hands. Whatever the examination result will be, I should have a heart of reverence and obedience to God, and never complain against Him.

The next day, the doctor made the diagnosis and said sadly to Meizi, “I’m sorry. We found a malignant tumor in your son’s stomach. The tumor contains five small ones, and its outer layer has been made very thin. I’m afraid we can’t perform an operation. If we risk operating on him, his life could be in danger. Now all we could do is give him an infusion and observe.” Upon hearing this, Meizi was stunned and felt so weak at her knees that she could barely stand, thinking: What? A malignant tumor? My son is only 31 years old, and he’s going to be a dad; will he leave this world without seeing his baby? At that moment, Meizi couldn’t help bursting into tears, and kept begging the doctor piteously, “Please! My son is still very young, and he is only 31 years old; please do whatever you can to save him!” The doctor said with resignation, “OK, we’ll try our best.” Seeing Meizi choking with sobs, another doctor said with a sigh, “What a pity! … Maybe we could send your son’s case to the expert in Beijing asking for his advice, and see if we can perform an operation.” Hearing these words, Meizi felt a little released, hoping that this could save her son.

After Meizi went back home, she earnestly prayed to God, “O God, I’m too small in stature; facing my son’s illness, I feel very distressed, weak, and quite helpless. However, I believe that since this thing has come upon me, it must contain Your will; I just don’t understand yet. Please give me more faith and strength so that I can rely on You to be strong.” After she prayed, her heart calmed down a lot. She thought of Job’s words when he was tried: “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). Then Meizi thought: When encountering Satan’s temptation, Job lost all his property and children and had sore boils all over his body; no one could have withstood this kind of blow. However, Job had a God-revering heart; he didn’t resent or deny God, but still praised the sacred name of Him. He realized that all his property and children were bestowed by God; externally, they were stripped away by Satan, but with God’s permission, so he was willing to obey God’s sovereignty and return all that he owned to Him. In the end, Job stood testimony during Satan’s temptation, shamed Satan, and glorified God. What about me? I’ve believed in God for many years and enjoyed all that was bestowed by Him, but I have neither pursued the truth diligently nor repaid His love. Every time facing a trial, I even misunderstood God and blamed Him. I really hurt His heart. In the past, I didn’t satisfy God’s will; this time I must not complain against Him; I’ll entrust my son to His hands, and submit to His design. At this thought, Meizi prayed to God again, “O God, I am willing to put my son’s life into Your hands; be he alive or dead, I will obey Your sovereignty and arrangements.” After the prayer, Meizi felt much steadier inside, and realized that God is her strong support. In the following days, the doctor often spoke to Meizi about her son’s condition; Meizi was not as weak as before and willing to calmly face whatever comes upon her.

Several days later, the doctor talked to Meizi again, “Your son’s tumor is really rare and aggressive; we’re not sure if the operation will be successful. You should be mentally prepared.” While Meizi heard these words, she thought: It seems that my son is doomed. He’s so young; if anything unpleasant happens to him, how could I go on living? Thinking of this, she couldn’t stop her tears from falling. Ripples of desperation and helplessness coming over her, she walked home in a trance, and wept secretly for a long time. Afterward, she thought of God’s words, “Everything man possesses comes from the Creator and will return to Him some day not far in the future. This kind of person understands that the Creator arranges man’s birth and has sovereignty over man’s death, and that both life and death are predestined by the Creator’s authority.” God’s words carry authority and power, making Meizi suddenly see the light. She recalled the experience of a brother she had heard before. When he suffered from a serious illness, the doctor and his family all thought he couldn’t make it; however, when he submitted to God and entirely handed himself over to Him, he miraculously survived, recovering day by day, and now could even fulfill duties to the best of his abilities. The moment Meizi heard his experience, she felt it was very marvelous that God holds the power of life and death over man. From the brother’s experience, Meizi understood all that man possesses came from God, and that her son’s life and death were both in God’s hands. Whether his illness could be cured, and whether he could survive or not were controlled by God, not by man. Among men, some seek death but fail; some try everything to live long lives, yet leave the world unconsciously; even those who have power and authority can’t escape illnesses and death; only God holds the fate of mankind. Then Meizi bowed down on the ground and prayed to God once again, “O God, I’m willing to hand over my son into Your hands, and accept Your sovereignty and arrangements. Regardless of how my son’s condition would be, I will praise Your righteousness.”

Unexpectedly, when Meizi completely entrusted her son’s life to God, things turned around. One morning, the doctor came to her and said, “I have some good news. The expert in Beijing identified the tumor in your son’s belly and sent a message, saying that it has transformed into a benign one and is operable now. It’s really a miracle! He advised us to do centesis to remove the fluid in the tumor first; then he will come and perform the operation himself.” Listening to this news, Meizi was so excited that her tears uncontrollably flowed down. She thanked God for his grace from her heart, and truly saw God is the Master of all things. She remembered a passage of God’s words, “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.” Meizi truly realized: All things, living or dead are under God’s command; my son’s condition and the doctor’s ideas also shifted and changed according to God’s thoughts. The malignant tumor in my son’s stomach could become benign; it’s really incredible! God’s deeds are truly wonderful! Meizi was so excited and kept thanking and praising God’s almightiness inside.

After the centesis, her son’s appetite gradually increased, and he looked much better. At that time, her daughter-in-law had just given birth to the baby. Meizi not only needed to look after the baby but also had to raise money for her son’s operation. She thought: Besides the cost of the surgery and hospital bill, we also need to pay for the expert’s accommodation and air tickets and pay him extra money, which would cost us at least a hundred thousand yuan. We have already spent all our savings on my son’s wedding, house, and car; how could I get so much money? At the thought of this, she felt very pressured. Afterward, the doctor called Meizi saying that the expert had arrived, and that she needed to pay the bill the next day. But as she failed to raise enough money, the expert left without performing the operation. Meizi felt a little depressed, but she kept praying to and relying on God, for she believed that everything is in God’s hands, and she wanted to await the arrangement of God.

A few days later, another miracle happened: Her son’s condition got better and better, and he could even have a stroll outside. One day, Meizi was surprised to see he could take his baby out for a walk. She clearly knew that it was God’s power and His wonderful deeds. In less than three months, her son got back to normal. Not long after, he ran a cell phone service business in partnership with his friends, and later went out to work with his younger brother. Now, he has been working outside for over a year and eight months; there is nothing wrong with him and his mental outlook is getting better and better.

Her son’s recovery made Meizi think of God’s words, “God’s control and sovereignty exceed the bounds of human imagination, of human knowledge, of human understanding, and of what human science can achieve; it is beyond the ken of created humanity.” From her son’s experience, Meizi deeply felt that God’s authority is limitless and immeasurable. Her son’s illness was so serious that even if he had an operation in the best hospital of the city, his chance of survival was quite low. Besides, his stomach would be removed during the operation, so even if the operation succeeded, he couldn’t live a normal life anymore. But to everyone’s surprise, her son recovered wondrously without having an operation. All these things confirmed that man’s life and death are in God’s hands; not a single person or thing can escape from God’s authority. Her son could survive miraculously, which was really God’s great salvation. In the meantime, she genuinely appreciated that at the crucial moment of life and death, all people, events, and things around man seem so insignificant and small, that only God is man’s real reliance, and that only those who rely on God, look up to Him, and obey His sovereignty and arrangements are the wise people. At that time, Meizi, with tears pouring down her face, felt incredible gratitude to God within, and offered her genuine thanks and praise to Him.