There is a Christian male believer (called M for short) from the northern part of the Anhui Province, whose birth brought great pains and severe sequela to his mother. As her sequela grew worse, she received a critically ill notice from the hospital. However, when a man comes to his end, God starts to work. At that time, a neighbor shared with her the gospel, stating that she could have peace by relying on Jesus. Without other choices to gain peace, she accepted Jesus as her savior. Miraculously, after putting her faith in Jesus, his mother was miraculously healed of her illness and was even able to get out of bed and work.
After experiencing the amazing power of healing, she firmly put her faith in Jesus to attend gatherings regularly for decades. She led her children in becoming Christians, though some of her family members still do not believe in Jesus.
It was under the influence of his mother that M came to Christ during summer vacation when his mother's church offered a class for church staff. Although M was not yet a believer at that time, he was very interested in the class. He attended the class as a truth-seeker to be a Christian. Not long after that, like many young people in the countryside, he left the village to seek opportunities to work in big cities. He eventually found a job in a Christian-owned company where he was both earning money and practicing a life of faith, such as attending Bible study classes held by the local church and the two-month-long catechism class every year.
Growing spiritually, he clearly realized his growing desire to partake in church ministry. About three years later, M started to put more time and energy into ministry, Bible studies, and gatherings than into his work, finding it difficult to manage both well. Then, he realized that he had to make a decision to put down his work and focus on receiving systematic training in theology. Though it was easy to think about it, he had many obstacles in his way to fulfilling his desire, such as whether his family would agree, where to receive the training, and how to pay for it. Knowing that such a choice would greatly affect his destiny, he did not make the decision easier on momentary passion but on the clear guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Gratefully, in less than a month, he solved these three big problems. Receiving support from his family, he successfully entered the seminary, having the ability to pay for his studies.
From this brother's experience, we can see several rules about how Christians walk on the path to serve God. First, sometimes God is patiently leading the man he has chosen according to his growth speed and does not immediately give him the strong desire to study theology and to serve God and the way to satisfy the desire. Secondly, the man must desire with his free will to partake in ministry, since God does not force any men to serve Him nor does Him use other people to force a man. What matters most is a man’s own desire and choice to walk on the path to serve God. Finally, if it is God's will for a man to serve Him, He will make a way out. Even if there are many obstacles in his way, God will remove them so that the person can walk on this path.
- Translated by Alvin Zhou
