Who Is My Support in Times of Life and Death?
By Liu Mei, China My name is Liu Mei and I’m 62. Earlier this year, a sudden illness affected me and made me quite helpless. In that life-and-death crisis, I had no family by my side and I could only pray to God and rely on Him to save me. Through the experience, I saw that life and death are in God’s hands and God is our only rock. At about midnight on February 10, 2018, my blood pressure increased suddenly, which caused a cerebral thrombosis. At that moment, my heart palpitated violently, and I felt panicked. Also, I felt so much tightness in my chest that I almost couldn’t breathe. In this condition, I felt I could die at any time. I was so afraid, and I wanted to call my daughter and son-in-law for help, but I couldn’t voice any words. I lay on the bed, unable to move at all as I was so weak. I thought, “What can I do? I’ve been suddenly struck by an illness and neither of them knows. It’s a long time before dawn. If I die, no one will know. …” The more I thought of this, the more I was afraid. So I hurriedly prayed to God, “O God! Now I don’t have the ability to move or call my family. I can only rely on You. Whether I will die or survive this night, I’m willing to commit it into Your hands and let You rule over and arrange everything.” After praying, I remembered God’s words, “Almighty God is an all-powerful physician! To dwell in sickness is to be sick, but to dwell in the spirit is to be well. If you have but one breath, God will not let you die.” God’s words gave me faith. Though my daughter wasn’t by my side, I thought, “The One I believe in is Almighty God. My life is in God’s hands, and so whether I will die or not is decided by God.” Thinking of this, I wasn’t so afraid, and I lay there without knowing for how long until I slowly fell unconscious. The next morning, my daughter saw that I still wasn’t out of my room at about 8 o’clock, so she came into my room to wake me. When she saw me lying coma-like with an ashen face she was very frightened and cried loudly, “Mom, what’s going on? Mom! What’s wrong with you? …” Then I faintly heard my daughter crying and my son-in-law speaking, and thereupon I gradually came to my senses and feebly opened my eyes. On seeing me awake, my daughter lifted me up quickly. However, my mind was unclear. Furthermore, my tongue was stiff, so I couldn’t say a word, and my eyes were so blurred that I could not see them clearly. In a daze, I heard them say they were going to send me to the hospital. Then I blacked out again. I did not know how much time passed before I recovered my senses again. I realized I was in an ambulance. But I still couldn’t move, and I was suffocating and unable to speak, as if I was dying. I could do nothing but pray to God silently, “Dear God! Please save me. God! Only You can save me.” After a short while, I fainted again. The next time I came around and opened my eyes, I saw my son-in-law keeping watch by my bedside. I asked him with great difficulty, “Where am I?” Seeing me awake from my coma, he was so happy and answered me quickly, “Mom, you’ve finally come round. We are in the hospital and you have been in a coma for three days.” At that time, my head was still dizzy, and I felt as if I had slept for a long time. I was limp and weak all over, and was unable to move. And when I spoke, I had great difficulty in breathing and was inarticulate because of my stiff tongue. But at least my mind was clear. When I heard what my son-in-law said, my first thought was that God was beside me watching over and protecting me. It was because God had listened to my prayer and saved me that I repeatedly came out of the coma during those three days. Thinking of this, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my face, and I continually thanked God in my heart. That afternoon, I felt a little better and I could turn my body over. Later, the doctor came and said to my son-in-law, “Your mother’s mouth is crooked and she’s speaking with a lisp. These are the signs of a stroke. Maybe she will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease in the future.” Hearing this, my son-in-law didn’t speak for a long time. I couldn’t help worrying myself by thinking, “Alzheimer’s disease? Doesn’t that mean I will be an imbecile? What will I do if that happens?” The more I thought of this, the more scared I was and the more awful I felt. But then I thought of God’s words, “Of everything that occurs in the universe, there is nothing that I do not have the final say in. What exists that is not in My hands?” God’s words calmed me down. I prayed to God silently, “O God! Hearing what the doctor said, I felt a bit scared. But I believe all things are in Your hands, as is my fate. I’m willing to entrust my life to You.” After the prayer, I became less afraid than before. To my surprise, my condition improved quickly. On the fourth day of my hospitalization, I could get up and walk around by myself. The next day just happened to be Chinese New Year’s Eve. Seeing my condition had improved, my son-in-law didn’t want me to spend the New Year in the hospital, so he asked the doctor to prescribe medication for me for a week so that I…