LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS
Quite a few weeks elapsed before we went to Kucheng again, and during
that interval nothing had been heard of Mrs. Lü. But we had not been
silent before the Throne of Grace. When we reached Kucheng, several
met us at the gate, shouting, "We have good news for you, which will
give you great joy; Mrs. Lü is now your friend indeed, she has broken
her vow, and has been eating meat for the first time to-day!" That was
good news indeed, and there is no need to tell what joy this news
brought; indeed, it would be impossible to do so. How we did praise
God for having answered prayer and given such a glorious deliverance.
And that song of praise rose higher when we heard from Mrs. Lü's own
lips the full story of God's dealings with her.
She met us with a radiant face, and began immediately to tell how it
was the Lord Himself who had constrained her to yield. No other power
or person could have done so. The story must be told in her own words.
"After you had left me," she said, "I was still restless and could find
no peace. As the days passed by, I became more and more miserable, and
at night my sleep was disturbed by all kinds of dreams. I knew I ought
to trust God and break my vow, but I could not. I felt I must go on in
the way I had walked for so long, and I determined again not to turn to
anything or to anybody else. But one night, in my dream, I saw the old
tailor who is living with us and who is earnestly seeking after God,
standing before me in new, beautiful garments. He was altogether
changed, and oh how glorious he was. At that moment, when I was
overwhelmed with the appearance of the old man, I caught sight of some
blood which seemed to flow from his heart, and I cried out, 'That is
the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, which has cleansed away his sin.
That is why he is so beautiful.' How I wished I were like him!
"After that I awoke, but soon went to sleep again, and then another
vision came. Some one with supernatural strength caught hold of me.
His grasp was so firm that I had no power to move a finger, and I
screamed out, asking him to free me. But he answered, 'Unless you
promise to give up your vegetarian vow, I will not let you go.' Now I
knew it was the Lord speaking to me, and in my terror I cried out,
'Yes, Lord, I will, I will give up my vow.' Still He kept His hold on
me, and said, 'Unless you promise that you will not only give up your
vow, but repent with your whole heart, I will not let you go.' Again I
replied, 'Yes, Lord, I will repent with my whole heart, only let me go,
and I will serve Thee.' As soon as I had promised, He let me go, and I
awoke, feeling so free and happy. My chains were gone, my fetters
broken, and all my unrest had departed.
"The following day I kept repeating, 'Lord, I have repented. I have
promised to serve Thee, and I will keep my promise to the very end.'
My heart is filled with joy and peace, and now I want to tell you that
you may not worry or be anxious about me any more. You have fought the
battle with me, you have prayed much for me, you have often felt sad
and anxious about me, but now you can be at rest. It is God Himself
who has made me take this step, who was too strong for me, and there is
no turning back."
That was Mrs. Lü's story. What joy it brought to us as we stood and
listened to that testimony. She had spoken truly, "there was no
turning back," and so there was only grateful praise in our heart, no
fear for the future, for the victory had been won once for all. Mrs.
Lü's conversion was like that of the Apostle Paul, a radical change;
and like him she began to preach boldly the Truth in Christ Jesus. All
who saw and heard her marvelled and could not understand what had
brought about such a change. Over and over again she had to tell the
wonderful story of her conversion, and it made a deep impression on
many.
The vegetarian leaders were angry, and came time after time to try and
win her back, sometimes by earnest pleading, at other times by threats
and denunciations. But she remained firm, and to each party confessed
that it was God who had called her. It was in His almighty power that
she had been constrained to give up her vow and seek salvation in
Christ Jesus, and she could not resist Him. He had done for her what
no human power could ever have accomplished. She told them it was no
use trying to persuade her to go back, for she would never serve any
one but the Lord Jesus, so they might as well leave her in peace to go
her own road. Her old friends and instructors did not like it, but
while they threatened, she remained calm and spoke kindly to them, and
even suggested that they too should believe; whereupon they began to
curse her in their rage.
Steadily Mrs. Lü went on growing in the knowledge of Christ. She
continued her reading, and soon began to teach others. About six or
seven months later she and her husband were baptized together into the
Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They returned to their home,
full of joy in the Lord, and with the earnest desire to live for Him
who had died for them, and to show forth His salvation from day to day.