February 26, 2018
Ruth, United States
I was born in a small town in southern China, and starting from my paternal great-grandmother’s generation, our family has believed in the Lord. Stories from the Bible, hymns of worship and ecclesiastical music in the church accompanied me as I passed through the happy days of my childhood. As I started getting older, pressure grew in my studies, and in my heart I started to slowly grow distant from the Lord. However, the Lord never left me, whenever I would call out for Him, He would help me. The grace and holy name of the Lord Jesus are rooted deep within my heart. I remember in the year I took the college entrance exam that no one thought I’d be able to test into a good college, and this included my teachers. Amidst all these setbacks I nearly gave up all hope, and I too thought that I certainly would not be able to test into the college I wanted to get into. But I inadvertently recalled a phrase I heard in the church in my childhood: “When people have reached their limit, that’s when God begins,” and in a flash it was as if I’d been enlightened: That’s right, my extremity is God’s opportunity, the Lord’s abilities are the greatest, I believe that as long as I sincerely rely on the Lord then He will certainly help me. Thereupon, I often prayed to the Lord Jesus: “Oh Lord, please help me, if I’m able to test into the college of my dreams without a hitch then starting from today I promise I will never shun You, and I will accept You as my only Savior in this life.” At the same time, I also paid a price that a normal person would be unable to imagine, during my entire senior year of high school, besides when I was eating and sleeping, I was practicing the piano. I was basically keeping up 10 to 12 hours of practice a day. I didn’t know where this strength was coming from that was supporting me, but I thought that it must be the Lord listening to my prayers and secretly helping me, and in my heart I gave more thanks to the Lord. In the end, I was awarded with my long-cherished wish by testing into one of the top music academies in the country, and as a result I believed firmly that the Lord Jesus was my only Savior. In my fourth year of college I didn’t know what path I should take after graduating, so I called on the Lord Jesus and asked the Lord to show me the way and set up a path for me to take. In 2004, shortly after America had gone through the 9/11 terrorist attack, when almost all visas for entry into America were frozen, I was relying on a music CD that I had recorded professionally for myself, and to my surprise I received a full-ride scholarship to a university in America. On top of that, I got a student visa without a hitch and went to America to pursue my studies. After experiencing these two events—testing into college and going abroad—I saw that the Lord had helped me to achieve goals that I would not have been able to achieve by relying solely on myself, and I was of even firmer conviction that the Lord Jesus is the true God and that He is my Savior, and I need to properly practice my faith in the Lord and follow the Lord.