Break Free From Satan’s Bondage, and See the Light of Life

Break Free From Satan’s Bondage, and See the Light of Life

By Xiaona

Xiaona was born in a remote mountain village. Her parents farmed for living, and they led a poor life. Every time Xiaona saw the playmates of her age eat well and dress well, she felt self-abased. In addition, she heard her teacher say, “One’s destiny is in his own hand.” Thus, when Xaiona was little, she had planned in her heart: I must work hard and worry about earning money so that I can change my bad fate and live a wonderful and happy life.

In 2005, Xiaona graduated from high school. She eagerly worked away from her home. Her first job was a waitress of a hotel, with a meager salary of 1,000 yuan every month. As her need for money became greater, she realized that if she only lived on such little bit of money, it was definitely impossible for her to live a better life. Therefore, she worked hard, and tried her best to show herself before her boss. Finally, everything comes to him who waits: She was quickly promoted to the position of assistant food and beverage director, and her salary became 4,000 yuan every month. Seeing her salary increased so much, Xiaona burst with joy. She couldn’t help calculating: At this rate, I’ll probably have the money to clear the debt of my family, to cure my father’s illness, and to save for my business in the future. Xiaona dreamed that her future life would get better and better, and was filled with anticipation for her future. When Xiaona was immersed in her beautiful dream, an unexpected thing broke it.

One time, Xiaona and a cook of the hotel argued with each other about some petty issue. The cook punched her on the face before she realized it. Immediately, as if the bridge of her nose was broken, Xiaona ached unbearably with blood flowing out from her nose. Seeing this, her colleague hurriedly sent her to the hospital. After examination, the doctor said the bridge of Xiaona’s nose fractured. So, the manager of the hotel, afraid that Xiaona would get the hotel into trouble, placated her and let her not call the police, much less call the TV station. And he promised that the cook would take the blame for it.

Xiaona was so naive as to believe the manager’s words. However, not long after that, her colleague told her that the cook had ran away on the day it happened. Xiaona went to ask the manager, but she never expected that he broke his word and was unwilling to take any blame. Only then did Xiaona know she was deceived. So, she went to the local police station, but because the defendant was a local person, the policemen didn’t file the case by saying that she was not seriously injured. Then, Xiaona went to the Municipal Public Security Bureau. But the police there also refused to file the case on the ground of not having enough evidence. In the end, this matter became a widespread uproar in the hotel, and Xiaona lost her job because of this.

After losing the job, Xiaona instantly felt into confusion. She often thought of the scenes happening to her, as if she had had a nightmare. She did not know how to walk the way ahead. Thinking of her sick father and her tired mother, Xiaona realized that she couldn’t be so pessimistic, but should pick herself up again. She believed that she could use her hands to create a beautiful life. And as long as she could expend her efforts, she would be rewarded. Xiaona wasn’t defeated by the present failure, nor compromised to fate. Sustained by the faith “One’s destiny is in his own hand,” she walked on ahead.

Xiaona tried various means to change her situation and make more money. For example, she took part in the singing competition, dreaming of being famous overnight. However, things didn’t turn out as she had wished; she was eliminated by the judge at the first hurdle. When she heard that the DJ in KTV center could earn 200 yuan one day, she confidently attended the interview. But due to her ordinary appearance, she didn’t pass the interview. … Finally, Xiaona only worked in a KTV center as a cashier. Later, because she didn’t hand in the extra 100 yuan one customer gave, she was not only beaten and abused by the manager, but also lost her job.

A string of blows struck her heart. She thought: These years, I only want to find a good job, so that I can earn more money and live a better life. My wish is not high, but why cannot I fulfill it? Why did Heaven not help me? Why did I try hard to earn money but always got into trouble in everything? Was it because I did not work hard enough? Why did a string of bad things always happen to me when my work began to look up a bit? Why cannot I realize my dream? Whose hand is one’s fate in? Xiaona felt confused. …

Just when Xiaona was perplexed, her mother preached God’s kingdom gospel to her in June 2009. She read a passage of God’s words to Xiaona: “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite always rushing and busying about for himself, man remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a creature? In short, regardless of how God works, all His work is for the sake of man. Take, for example, the heavens and earth and all things that God created to serve man: The moon, the sun, and the stars that He made for man, the animals and plants, spring, summer, autumn and winter, and so on—all are for the sake of man’s existence” (“Restoring the Normal Life of Man and Taking Him to a Wonderful Destination”). God’s words are tender and with authority, which greatly moved Xiaona’s heart. She came to know that man’s fate is in God’s hands, and that even if she rushed about and was busy for herself, she still couldn’t escape God’s orchestration and arrangement for her fate. Pondering over God’s words, Xiaona recalled that over these years, she had gone through many hardships and frustrations, trying hard to adapt to the social trends, and attempting various ways to change her fate and live a desirable life by her own hands. However, no matter how hard she strived and struggled, she just couldn’t change her present situation. Thinking of this, Xiaona had an awakening: I’m only a small created being, so how can I change my fate? And her mother told her, “Your experience seemingly is full of unexpected twists and turns, but there is God’s good intention in it—protecting you from being swept away by this evil trends so that you can return to God’s house earlier and receive God’s salvation.” From her mother’s words, Xiaona felt God’s love for her and happily accepted God’s work.

In theory, Xiaona knew man’s fate is in God’s hands, but because she was deeply harmed by the poison “One’s destiny is in his own hand,” she couldn’t help but rely on herself to strive even after accepting God’s work. After marriage, in order to live a good life, Xiaona put her whole being into her life, taking care of her child and running the household. She was busy every day, so she had no time to read God’s words, not to mention attending gatherings with brothers and sisters. For the sake of her family, Xiaona had devoted all that she had, but her husband still argued with her about some trifles, even beat and scolded her. Her mother-in-law disliked her, thinking Xiaona was incapable of making big money. Her child was gravely ill in succession, and almost died. … Under the pressure of work and with the family involvement, Xiaona could hardly breathe and was possessed by diseases. All of this made her feel exhausted, and extremely miserable and helpless.

Brothers and sisters found that Xiaona didn’t attend meetings, they went to her house to support her. Seeing sisters, Xiaona felt as if she met her long-separated family. She spoke her sufferings out to them. After hearing her words, a sister fellowhsiped with her patiently, and read God’s words to her: “Everyone is full of hopes about their fate, and anticipates that everything in their life will go as they wish, that they will not want for food or clothing, that their fortunes will rise spectacularly. Nobody wants a life that is poor and downtrodden, full of hardships, beset by calamities. But people cannot foresee or control these things. … there will always be some people who want to see for themselves what they are capable of; they want to change their fates with their own two hands, or to achieve happiness under their own power, to see whether they can overstep the bounds of God’s authority and rise above God’s sovereignty. The sadness of man is not that man seeks happy life, not that he pursues fame and fortune or struggles against his own fate through the fog, but that after he has seen the Creator’s existence, after he has learned the fact that the Creator has sovereignty over human fate, he still cannot mend his ways, cannot pull his feet out of the mire, but hardens his heart and persists in his errors. He would rather keep thrashing in the mud, vying obstinately against the Creator’s sovereignty, resisting it until the bitter end, without the slightest shred of contrition, and only when he lies broken and bleeding does he at last decide to give up and turn back. This is true human sorrow. So I say, those who choose to submit are wise, and those who choose to escape are pig-headed” (“God Himself, the Unique III”).

God’s words touched Xiaona’s heart, and thoroughly revealed the thoughts in her heart. Xiaona realized: Although I believe in God, yet because I don’t understand the truth and have no true discernment of Satan’s poison “One’s destiny is in his own hand,” I still want to change my fate by my own power. Xiaona thought that she worked hard from dawn to night just because she wanted to live a good life. However, finally, she didn’t get anything but was full of illnesses. She understood that it was this rule of survival that Satan used to afflict her, and to make her deny God’s almighty dominion and oppose God. Though she rebelled against God so much, God didn’t abandon her and still sent the sister to fellowship with her. At that moment, Xiaona’s stubborn heart was deeply touched by God’s love. She resolved silently: In the following days, I will work hard to pursue the truth to resolve Satan’s toxins existing within me, no longer living by Satan’s poisons, and to obey God’s sovereignty and orchestration for my fate.

Since then, Xiaona spared as much time as possible to attend meetings, reading God’s words together with brothers and sisters and fellowshiping her experience and knowledge of God’s words. When she was at home, she would read God’s words as soon as she had the time, would bring difficulties in her life before God and find the way of practice in God’s words, letting God lead her life throughout the day. Xiaona hadn’t thought that when she didn’t live by satanic rule of survival “One’s destiny is in his own hand,” she saw God’s deeds: Her husband changed his attitude toward her and her relationship with her mother-in-law became proper gradually. In the past, when Xiaona had a job, her husband seldom worked and they would quickly use up the money they earned. Now she didn’t work, but her husband became diligent instead. They could save some money minus their family’s living expenses. Moreover, Xiaona gradually became healthy. She felt that she truly enjoyed so much of God’s love, and thus was full of gratitude and praise for God.

Xiaona saw God’s words say: “Today it can be said that for the great majority of those who believe in God, regardless of whether the truths they understand are many or few, profound or superficial, and regardless of whether or not they have already entered into the reality of the truth, no matter what their circumstances, one thing is clear: If you don’t let them believe in God, and make them return to the world, they won’t do it no matter what, they won’t do it even if you beat them to death. If someone said to them ‘The world will give you a mountain of gold,’ they might give it some thought and reply, ‘A mountain of gold might be quite good,’ but then they’d think about it again and say: ‘No, a mountain of gold does not bring as much happiness as staying before God, expending for God, and performing my duty in the house of God. A mountain of gold isn’t happiness; at the time I’d be quite pleased, but later on I’d feel great pain. No matter what, there is no way I could take that path. It took great difficulty to find God, and if I go back now, where will I look for Him in the future? This is a precious opportunity!’ Seeing God and embracing God is like grasping the opportunity of a lifetime. What does someone who is drowning feel when they grab a life ring? (They don’t let go of it—they hold on for dear life.) That’s the feeling. When they’re holding on to the life ring, what are they thinking in their hearts? ‘I don’t have to die, I can finally keep living! Having been on the verge of death, there’s hope that I might live. I won’t let go of this hope even if I need to use all my strength; no matter how much it hurts, or how hard or tough it is, I won’t let this life ring slip away, I’ll keep holding on to it until my last breath.’ When people feel the hope of living, would you say that they feel happiness? (Yes.) That’s right” (“Only With the Truth as Their Life Can People Live a Life of Value”). From God’s words, she felt she was the person who was drowning. In the past, when she didn’t come before God and didn’t know God’s sovereignty, she was driven by Satan’s ideas and viewpoints, thinking that her fate was in her own hands, so she always wanted to struggle and scramble by her own hands. As a result, she lay broken and bleeding. If it hadn’t been God’s mercy and protection for her, she would have fallen into the underworld.

Nowadays, she has come before the Creator, seeing His almighty dominion and enjoying the grace and blessings He gives to her, so she has the courage to live on and has an opportunity to receive salvation. How can she let go of this life ring? Also, Xiaona thought: If I hadn’t experienced these frustrations, I would never see through Satan’s affliction on me, much less put down Satan’s rule of survival easily. I thank God for leading me to break free from Satan’s bondage and live in the light. All the glory be to Almighty God!

Source The Internet

    Almighty God, Christ of the last days, is the returned Lord Jesus. Eastern Lightning, The Church of Almighty God was founded by God personally and is formed by all those who truly follow Almighty God. Only by following Almighty God's work in the last days can we be purified and brought into the wonderful destination. Dear brothers and sisters, have you followed God's footsteps?