By Ding Xin, China

In August 2022, I was responsible for the work of watering newcomers in the church. I felt very thankful to God for being able to do such an important duty, and secretly determined that I would definitely do this duty well. As I hadn’t been responsible for watering work before and didn’t have a grasp of the principles, I carefully studied, and put effort into familiarizing myself with the relevant principles. If the newcomers had any states or problems, I would hurriedly fellowship and resolve them with the sister I was working with. Although every day was busy, I felt a lot of energy in my heart, and resolved some problems. After a time, I discovered that this work involved a lot of details. Not only did I have to resolve the various problems and difficulties of the newcomers in a timely manner, but I also had to check and follow up on the work of the waterers and resolve their difficulties, discover people of talent, cultivate waterers, and so on. I started to feel that doing this work well was just too difficult. It required a lot of thought and the payment of a high price. It was so tiring! So, I constantly hoped that I would run into fewer problems so my work could be more relaxed. Later, I came under even more pressure as the number of newcomers who needed watering kept increasing. I thought to myself, “To water all the newcomers well and look after everything properly will take so much time and effort. It’s too tiring!” Therefore, I started to just gather with the waterers. I handed off responsibility for all the newcomers with a greater number of notions to the waterers and didn’t concern myself too much with them. Sometimes, I would inquire about the work of the waterers, but I was just going through the motions. After a time, problems started constantly emerging in the watering work. Some newcomers were negative and weak, and did not gather regularly; some were misled by the baseless rumors and fallacies of religious pastors. Still others were obstructed and persecuted by their families, and so didn’t gather regularly, and so on. The waterers were also living in difficulties, and were somewhat negative. The leaders sent a letter asking me to quickly find the reason and turn around the deviations. They also reminded me that I should personally water those newcomers who had notions, but were of good caliber. I had to actually take part in resolving the problems of the newcomers and help them put down roots in the true way. When I saw the leaders say this, I felt upset in my heart. I felt that this was the result of me not doing real work. Afterward, I hurriedly went to fellowship about and resolved the problems of the newcomers, but the results were not great. I started to feel like this work was just too difficult, and it would be good if I could alter my duty to something a bit easier. Once, the waterers pointed out some problems and difficulties in the work. I wanted to find some principles and then discuss how to resolve these problems with them, but then I thought, “It takes too much time and effort to find principles. The sister I’m partnered with is of good caliber and knows how to fellowship well and resolve problems. I’ll just get her to go and resolve them.” So I didn’t look for the principles I should have looked for, and I didn’t fellowship about what I should have fellowshipped about. I just waited for my sister to resolve things. Later, when things came upon us, I used my own poor caliber as an excuse and handed over all the most problematic and difficult work to my partner as if that was perfectly reasonable and natural. I bore less and less of a burden in the performance of my duty. Each day, I only did the tasks at hand, working in a mechanical way. During that time, my heart constantly felt a lack of peace and ease. Because the results kept declining, the leaders frequently followed up on the work to understand what was going on. I felt repressed and restless, like there were too many problems and difficulties that needed to be solved. I felt like I was under too much pressure and there were too many things to worry about. I often felt distressed, and complained, “I haven’t been doing this duty very long. Why don’t the leaders understand me? Why are they following up on the work so closely?” I really hoped that no more problems would appear in the work.

One day, I caught COVID. I suddenly ran a fever and my whole body ached. I didn’t have any energy at all. I couldn’t swallow my food or sleep at night. In my heart, I constantly prayed to God, “Dear God, this sickness and pain has come upon me with Your intention. But now I still do not know which lesson I should learn. May You guide me to understand my own problems.” After praying, I pondered my state and condition in doing my duty over this period of time. I thought about how doing my duty was something meaningful, but why did I often feel repressed and in anguish? How had I gotten into this condition while doing my duty? Later, I read the words of God: “If people constantly seek physical comfort and happiness, if they constantly pursue physical happiness and comfort, and don’t wish to suffer, then even a little bit of physical suffering, suffering a bit more than others, or feeling a bit more overworked than usual, would make them feel repressed. This is one of the causes of repression. If people do not consider a small amount of physical suffering a big deal, and they do not pursue physical comfort, but instead pursue the truth and seek to fulfill their duties in order to satisfy God, then they often will not feel physical suffering. Even if they occasionally feel a bit busy, tired, or worn out, after they go to sleep they will wake up feeling better, and then they will continue with their work. Their focus will be on their duties and their work; they won’t consider a bit of physical fatigue a significant issue. However, when a problem arises in people’s thinking and they constantly pursue physical comfort, any time that their physical bodies are slightly wronged or cannot find satisfaction, certain negative emotions will arise within them. So, why will this kind of person, who always wants to do as they please and to indulge their flesh and enjoy life, often find themselves trapped in this negative emotion of repression whenever they are unsatisfied? (It is because they pursue comfort and physical enjoyment.) That is true for some people” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (5)). After pondering God’s words, I understood that the reason I had been living in repression and anguish was not that this work was hard to do. The main reason was that there was a problem with my thoughts and views. What I had been pursuing was not obtaining the truth, and neither was it fulfilling the duty of a created being. Instead, I had been pursuing physical comfort. I had only thought about how I could worry less and make things easier for myself. When the workload had been heavy and I’d needed to invest extra care into it, suffer more hardship, and pay more of a price, I had grumbled and felt resistant. When I had encountered a lot of problems and difficulties in the work, I’d regarded them as too troublesome and had complained about how difficult things were for me, or pushed them onto other brothers and sisters to handle and resolve. I had even wanted to swap my duty for something easier so I could escape this environment. I’d known full well that when leaders follow up on work they are fulfilling a leader’s responsibilities, but when they had started breathing down my neck, affecting the interests of my flesh, I’d felt like I was put upon and overworked, and I would grumble about this and complain about that. In reality, I was actually complaining that the environment arranged by God was not good. This was being dissatisfied with God, and feeling resistant toward God. This was opposing God! I really had been too rebellious, and had lacked all trace of a God-fearing heart!

Later, I continued to seek the truth and reflect on myself. I read the words of God: “People always complain about difficulties while doing their duty, they don’t want to put any effort in, and as soon as they have a little downtime, they take a rest, chatter idly, or partake in leisure and entertainment. And when work picks up and it breaks the rhythm and routine of their lives, they are unhappy and dissatisfied with it. They grumble and complain, and they become perfunctory in doing their duty. This is coveting the comforts of the flesh, is it not? … No matter how busy the work of the church is or how busy their duties are, the routine and normal condition of their lives is never disrupted. They are never careless about any small details of the life of the flesh and control them perfectly, being very strict and serious. But, when dealing with the work of God’s house, no matter how great the matter and even if it might involve the safety of the brothers and sisters, they deal with it carelessly. They do not even care about those things that involve God’s commission or the duty they should do. They take no responsibility. This is indulging in the comforts of the flesh, is it not? Are people who indulge in the comforts of the flesh suitable for doing a duty? As soon as someone brings up the subject of doing their duty, or talks about paying a price and suffering hardship, they keep shaking their heads. They have too many problems, they are full of complaints, and they are filled with negativity. Such people are useless, they are not qualified to do their duty, and should be eliminated” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (2)). After reading the words of God, I finally realized that this problem of indulging in comfort and being irresponsible when doing one’s duty is extremely serious in nature. People who constantly indulge in comfort do their duty in a wily and slippery way, picking the easy bits and fearing the hard bits, and don’t want to suffer hardship or pay a price. Whenever they see difficulties they run away and seek various pretexts and excuses to push work that entails great difficulty or numerous problems onto others. This type of person is untrustworthy and unfit to shoulder the work. I had been exactly this type of person. I had known full well that I was responsible for the watering work and should water newcomers and resolve their notions and problems in a timely manner so that they could put down roots in the true way as soon as possible. This was the basic remit of my duty, and the responsibilities that I should fulfill. However, I’d been complaining that the newcomers had a lot of problems, and that resolving the problems was too troublesome and too tiring. So I had found excuses to push all the newcomers with notions and difficulties onto the waterers and not concern myself with them at all, like a hands-off boss. This had meant that the newcomers’ problems couldn’t be resolved in a timely manner and hindered the progress of the watering work. When the waterers had run into difficulties and problems in their work, I’d been blatantly preoccupied with the flesh and unwilling to resolve them. Yet, I had been extremely cunning, coming up with an excuse by saying that I was of poor caliber, so that I could justifiably push all the difficulties and problems onto the sister I was partnering with. Because I’d been preoccupied with the flesh, indulged in comfort, and hadn’t done real work, the results of the watering work weren’t good. In spite of this, I hadn’t reflected on myself, and when the leaders had followed up on the work and found out what was going on, I had even felt resistant toward them and resented them. I had been too impervious to reason! With this kind of state and behavior, how was I worthy of being a supervisor? I hadn’t been doing my duty: I’d been doing evil! I felt upset and regretful in my heart, and thought that my contracting this pandemic had been allowed by God. I prayed to God, that He might lead me to continue to reflect on and know my own problems.

Not long after, I was at a gathering and opened up to everyone to talk about my state. The leader read me a passage of God’s words, which gave me some understanding of my corrupt disposition. Almighty God says: “False leaders do not do real work, but they know how to act like an official. What is the first thing they do once they become a leader? It is to buy people’s favor. They take the approach of ‘New officials are eager to impress’: First they do a few things to curry favor with people and handle a few things that improve everybody’s day-to-day welfare. They first try to make a good impression on people, to show everyone that they are in tune with the masses, so that everyone praises them and says, ‘This leader acts like a parent toward us!’ Then they officially take over. They feel that they have popular support and that their position has been secured; then they begin to enjoy the benefits of status, as though they were their proper due. Their mottos are, ‘Life is all about eating well and dressing nice,’ ‘Life is short, so enjoy it while you can,’ and ‘Drink today’s wine today, and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.’ They enjoy each day as it comes, they have fun while they can, and they give no thought to the future, much less do they consider what responsibilities a leader should fulfill and what duties they should do. They preach a few words and doctrines and do a few tasks for appearance’s sake as a matter of routine—they do not do any real work. They are not unearthing real problems in the church and completely solving them, so what is the point in them doing such superficial tasks? Is this not deceptive? Can important tasks be entrusted to this kind of false leader? Are they in line with principles and conditions of God’s house for selecting leaders and workers? (No.) These people don’t have any conscience or reason, they are devoid of any sense of responsibility, and yet they still wish to hold some official position, to be a leader, in the church—why are they so shameless? For some people who have a sense of responsibility, if they are of poor caliber, they cannot be leaders—and that’s to say nothing of useless people who have no sense of responsibility at all; they are even less qualified to be leaders. Just how lazy are such gluttonous and indolent false leaders? Even when they discover an issue, and they are aware that this is an issue, they don’t take it seriously and pay it no mind. They are so irresponsible! Though they are good talkers and seem to have a little caliber, they can’t solve various problems in the church’s work, leading to the work grinding to a standstill; the problems keep piling up, but these leaders do not concern themselves with them, and insist on carrying out a few superficial tasks as a matter of routine. And what is the end result? Do they not make a mess of church work, do they not make a hash of it? Do they not cause chaos and a lack of unity in the church? This is the inevitable outcome” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (8)). I felt like I was standing face to face with God as He exposed me. I was the kind of lazy person that God had exposed. For the sake of indulging in comfort, I hadn’t resolved the problems I had seen, and hadn’t done any real work at all. Thinking about this period of time, I had known all about the notions and problems of the newcomers, and could see the difficulties and states of the waterers. But I hadn’t thought about how to seek the truth to resolve these problems as fast as possible. Instead, I had just tried to save myself the trouble by only following procedure and going through the motions, fellowshipping only briefly. I had spouted a bit of doctrine to fool people and left it at that. Sometimes, I had even directly pushed problems onto my partner or onto the waterers, for them to resolve. I had just picked the easy tasks and left the tiring ones, and had been preoccupied with the flesh in every situation. I’d known full well that watering the newcomers was very important, as it affected whether the newcomers would be able to stand firm on the true way. However, I hadn’t wanted to pay a price, and hadn’t resolved the problems that I saw. I’d also run away from problems and shirked my responsibilities, and even though I could clearly see that the work was suffering losses, I’d paid it no heed at all. I really had been sorely lacking in conscience and too irresponsible! Despite this, I hadn’t reflected on myself, and had thought that because I’d only been responsible for this work for a short time, the leaders should be understanding of my difficulties and not demand too much of me. I really had been absolutely lacking in reason! I was living in reliance on satanic philosophies such as “Drink today’s wine today, and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow,” and “Get through each day in a perfunctory manner.” When doing my duty, I didn’t attend to my proper work. I only did some irrelevant and unimportant things, and muddled through my days. On the surface, I didn’t look as if I was idle every day, but in fact, I didn’t do any real work at all, and didn’t fulfill the responsibilities I should have fulfilled. What difference was there between my behavior and that of a scummy person or a layabout who does not attend to their proper work? In the past, I had looked down on people like that, never thinking that I was in the same category as them. I was disgusted by myself! Someone like me, lacking in integrity and completely untrustworthy, was truly unworthy of doing duties. I was walking the path of false leaders and false workers. Now, with sickness coming upon me, I didn’t have any energy to do my duties even though I wanted to. I was extremely regretful at wasting time when my health was good. If this illness couldn’t be cured and I died, I would leave behind an eternal regret in this life. The more I thought, the more distraught I became. I constantly had the feeling that I had been abandoned by God, and realized that if I carried on not pursuing the truth or doing my duty well, I really would be eliminated.

One day during spiritual devotion, I read more of the words of God: “There are some people who are unwilling to suffer at all in their duties, who always complain whenever they encounter a problem and refuse to pay a price. What kind of attitude is that? It is a perfunctory one. If you perform your duty perfunctorily, and approach it with an irreverent attitude, what will the result be? You will perform your duty poorly, though you are capable of performing it well—your performance will not be up to standard, and God will be very dissatisfied with the attitude you have toward your duty. If you could have prayed to God, sought the truth, and put your whole heart and mind into it, if you could have cooperated in this way, then God would have prepared everything for you in advance, so that when you were handling matters, everything would fall into place, and get good results. You would not need to exert a vast amount of energy; when you did your utmost to cooperate, God would have already arranged everything for you. If you are slippery and slack off, if you do not attend properly to your duty, and always go down the wrong path, then God will not act upon you; you will lose this opportunity, and God will say, ‘You are no good; I cannot use you. Go stand off to the side. You like being wily and slacking off, don’t you? You like being lazy, and taking it easy, do you not? Well then, take it easy forevermore!’ God will give this grace and opportunity to someone else. What do you say: Is this a loss or a gain? (A loss.) It is an enormous loss!” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). “How you regard God’s commissions is extremely important, and this is a very serious matter. If you cannot complete what God has entrusted to people, then you are not fit to live in His presence and you should be punished. It is perfectly natural and justified that humans should complete whatever commissions God entrusts to them. This is man’s supreme responsibility, and is just as important as their very lives. If you do not take God’s commissions seriously, then you are betraying Him in the most grievous way. In this, you are more lamentable than Judas, and should be cursed” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. How to Know Man’s Nature). From God’s words, I felt God’s righteousness and unoffendable disposition. I understood that our duty is a commission from God, and a responsibility that we are honor-bound not to refuse. Treating duty irreverently and irresponsibly is betraying God. It is a severe transgression. This type of person should be cursed. People who don’t consider their personal interests of the flesh and treat their duty seriously and responsibly can gain the work and guidance of God. Through the process of doing their duty, they gradually understand the truth and obtain the truth, and come to do things with principle. However, I did not love the truth. I only liked comfort. I didn’t do things that were clearly part of my basic responsibilities, and even if I occasionally did do a bit, I only went through the motions in a perfunctory way. I was just doing a bit of work for show, to trick God and fool my brothers and sisters. I truly was too deceitful! God scrutinizes the innermost hearts of people. He scrutinizes every action I take and every thought and idea I have. Someone like me, who indulges in comfort and is selfish and deceitful, is utterly untrustworthy and incurs God’s loathing and hatred. But I still didn’t reflect on myself. The leaders reminded me, but I was still showing consideration for the flesh, resulting in me being unable to obtain the Holy Spirit’s work in doing my duties and being unable to see through problems. It also meant that the difficulties of the newcomers couldn’t be resolved in a timely manner. I made transgressions in my duties. Now being affected by this pandemic was God’s chastening coming upon me. It was also a revelation of God’s righteous disposition to me. If I continued to be unrepentant, then even if the church didn’t clear me out, God scrutinizes everything, and the Holy Spirit would not work on me. Sooner or later, I would be subject to elimination. As the Bible says: “And the prosperity of fools shall destroy them” (Proverbs 1:32). Almighty God also says: “That which you greedily enjoy today is the very thing that is ruining your future….” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. The Work of Spreading the Gospel Is Also the Work of Saving Man). When I understood this, I was filled with regret, and thoroughly hated myself. I prayed to God, “Dear God, I am too selfish and deceitful. In doing my duties, I am perfunctory and show consideration for the flesh. This has affected the work of the church. Dear God, I am willing to repent. May You guide me to turn this state around.”

Later, I read the words of God: “What is the value of a person’s life? Is it merely for the sake of indulging in fleshly pleasures such as eating, drinking, and being entertained? (No, it is not.) Then what is it? Please share your thoughts. (To fulfill the duty of a created being, this at least is what a person should achieve in their life.) That is correct. … In one respect, it is about fulfilling the duty of a created being. In another, it is about doing everything within your ability and capacity to the best that you can, at least reaching a point where your conscience does not accuse you, where you can be at peace with your own conscience and be proven acceptable in the eyes of others. Taking it a step further, throughout your life, regardless of the family you were born into, your educational background, or your caliber, you must have some understanding of the principles that people ought to comprehend in life. For example, what kind of path people should walk, how they should live, and how to live a meaningful life—you should at least explore a bit of the true value of life. This life cannot be lived in vain, and one cannot come to this earth in vain. In another respect, during your lifetime, you must fulfill your mission; this is the most important. We’re not talking about completing a great mission, duty, or responsibility; but at the very least, you should accomplish something. For instance, in the church, some people put all their efforts into the work of spreading the gospel, dedicating the energy of their entire lives, paying a great price, and gaining many people. Because of this, they feel that their lives have not been lived in vain, and that they hold value and comfort. When facing illness or death, when summing up their entire lives and thinking back on everything they ever did, on the path they walked, they find solace in their hearts. They experience no accusations or regrets. Some people spare no effort while leading in the church or being responsible for a certain aspect of work. They unleash their maximum potential, giving all of their strength, expending all their energy and paying the price for the work they do. Through their watering, leadership, help, and support, they help many people in the midst of their own weaknesses and negativity to become strong and stand firm, not to withdraw themselves, but instead to return to the presence of God and even finally bear witness to Him. Furthermore, during the period of their leadership, they accomplish many significant tasks, clearing out more than a few evil people, protecting many of God’s chosen people, and recovering a number of significant losses. All of these achievements take place during their leadership. Looking back at the path they walked, recalling the work they did and the price they paid over the years, they feel no regrets or accusations. They believe that they did nothing to merit remorse, and they live a life of value, and have steadiness and comfort in their hearts. How wonderful is that! Isn’t this the result? (Yes.) This sense of steadiness and comfort, this lack of regrets, they are the result and the reward of pursuing positive things and the truth. Let’s not set high standards for people. Let’s consider a situation where a person is faced with a task they should do or want to do in their lifetime. After finding their place, they stand firmly in their position, holding their position, taking great pains, paying the price, and devoting all their energy to accomplish and finish what they should work on and complete. When they finally stand before God to give an account, they feel relatively satisfied, without accusations or regrets in their heart. They have a sense of comfort and of reward, that they have lived a valuable life” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (6)). From God’s words I understood, that God decreed that I should live in the last days, accept God’s work, and do duties in the church. He did not want me to show consideration for the flesh, indulge in comfort, and waste my life appearing busy but achieving nothing. God’s intention was for me to walk on the correct path of life, seek the truth more while doing my duty, and resolve the problems and difficulties of my brothers and sisters in accordance with God’s words, so that I could do things according to principle and do my duty in a way that is up to standard. Only a life lived in this way is valuable. I thought about how I had done my duty in a wily and slippery way. Although the flesh was in comfort, the depths of my heart were in anguish and darkness, and I had simply no peace or happiness at all. For the sake of fleeting comfort and enjoyment, I not only hindered my own life entry, but left behind so many regrets in my duty. I truly was too obstinate and too idiotic! I prayed to God and determined that although I hadn’t fully recovered from my illness, I was willing to turn my incorrect state around and rebel against the flesh to quickly resolve the notions and states of the newcomers, do my work well, and fulfill my responsibilities and duties.

Afterward, I would seek the truth with my partner to resolve the problems that appeared in the work. Usually, I would also lead the waterers to seek principles together, and periodically summarize the deviations and problems in the work and search for a path to solve them. One day, Sister Zhen Xin said that a newcomer she was watering had raised several problems. She didn’t know how to resolve them and wanted me to fellowship about them. There were some problems that I didn’t know how to fellowship about or resolve straight away. I started to think, “It will take a lot of thought and seeking to get a clear answer to these problems. This will take a lot of time. What a bother! I could just let these problems lie and get my partner to resolve them later on.” When I thought about this, I realized that I was showing consideration for the flesh again. I hurriedly prayed to God, “Dear God, I know that once again I am coveting comfort and tempted to be wily and slippery, I am willing to rebel against the flesh and devote all my strength to resolving these problems. May You guide me!” Later, I read the words of God: “When someone truly loves the truth, they can have a heart with a tremendous desire for God, a sincere heart, and the drive to practice the truth and submit to God. Possessing real strength, they are able to pay the price, devote their energy and time, forsake their personal benefits, and let go of all entanglements of the flesh, clearing the way for the practice of God’s words, the practice of the truth, and entry into the reality of the word of God. If, in order to enter into the reality of God’s word, you can let go of your own notions, let go of the interests of your own flesh, reputation, status, fame, and the enjoyments of the flesh—if you can let go of all such things, you will then enter more and more into the truth reality. Whatever difficulties and troubles you have will no longer be problems—they will be easily solved—and you will easily enter into the reality of God’s words. To enter into the truth reality, a sincere heart and a heart with a tremendous desire for God are the two indispensable conditions. If you only have a sincere heart, but are always cowardly, lack a tremendous desire for God, and shrink back when you encounter difficulties, this is not enough. If you only have a tremendous desire for God in your heart, and you are a bit impulsive, and you just have this aspiration, but you lack a sincere heart when things happen to you, and you shrink back, and choose your own interests, this is also not enough. You need both a sincere heart and a heart with a tremendous desire for God. The level of the sincerity of your heart and the strength of your tremendous desire for God determines the power of your drive to practice the truth. If you do not have a sincere heart and your heart does not have a tremendous desire for God, you will not be able to understand God’s words and will not have the drive to practice the truth. Like this, you cannot enter into the truth reality and it will be difficult for you to attain salvation” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Treasuring God’s Words Is the Foundation of Belief in God). I was very inspired by God’s words. When doing my duty, I was constantly retreating from difficulties and recoiling from the hard bits. The main issue was that I was not treating my duty with a sincere heart, and I was not willing to suffer or pay a price in order to practice the truth. When I thought about it, I realized that when I couldn’t solve the newcomers’ problems, this meant that I didn’t understand that aspect of the truth. This was the moment when I should seek the truth and equip myself with the truth. This kind of environment could prompt me to draw near to God and rely on God, and, even more so, was a chance for me to gain the truth. I should cherish these opportunities, rebel against my own flesh, and rely on God to seek truth and resolve these problems, paying the price I ought to pay. Only in this way could I obtain God’s enlightenment and guidance, and gradually understand and gain the truth. If I constantly indulged in comfort, retreated from difficulties, and recoiled when things were hard, I would never enter into the truth reality and would have no way of gaining the truth. Ultimately, the one harmed would be me. After understanding this, I prayed to God, and looked up some of God’s words relevant to the problems of the newcomers. Later, Zhen Xin and I held a gathering for the newcomers to eat and drink the words of God. Through fellowship, we resolved the problems of the newcomers. The newcomers had a path of practice after understanding the truth, and their difficulties and problems were resolved. I thanked God from the bottom of my heart! By actually seeking truth to resolve problems, I was also able to see through some problems, and understand some truths that I hadn’t understood before. Through doing my duty in this way, my heart felt at ease and at peace.

After this experience, I saw that all the various difficulties and problems I encountered when doing my duty had God’s permission, and God was not deliberately making things difficult for me. God’s intention was to use these various difficulties and problems to prompt me to seek the truth principles, and to use these various difficulties to reveal my corruption and deficiencies, so that I would seek the truth to resolve my own corrupt disposition. Otherwise, I would always live in reliance on my corrupt disposition, and indulge in comfort, being wily and slippery while doing my duty. Not only would this delay the work of the church, but ultimately, it would ruin me. It was the words of God that awakened me, a foolish and stubborn person. Thanks be to God for His salvation!