Devotional
for the week – 29 January 2007
TESTIMONIES
OF LING SWEE CHAN AND MARGARET LING
INTRODUCTION
How does a family react when a tragic event occurs and turns their
lives upside down? Find out how Ling Swee Chan and Margaret Ling
responded to the event in their lives. Was it a freak accident
or God’s Divine purpose?
BACKGROUND
OF THE ACCIDENT
It was on 27 May 2005 when Ling was driving his family out of
a golf course in Alabama when they reached an intersection of
a railway track and the road. As Ling’s view was blocked
by trees, he did not see a train approaching until it was too
late. The train crashed into the car and sent it spinning. Margaret
(Ling’s wife) was thrown out of the car and suffered a torn
knee ligament, whereas her daughter and Ling were still in the
car. Her daughter escaped without any injury but Ling suffered
from a severed spinal cord, his jaw was broken into three parts,
his lungs collapsed and two of his ribs were broken. Ling was
airlifted by helicopter to the hospital.
LING’S
TESTIMONY
Experiencing
God – His love and His Goodness
When Ling regained consciousness three days after the accident,
he could not remember anything and thought he had suffered from
a massive heart stroke. His first prayer was that he wanted God
to spare his life as his siblings and friends were not saved and
he still had a lot of work to do for the Lord. His second desire
was to have a grandchild. God in His great love and mercy granted
him both his prayers. From the beginning Ling never questioned
God about the accident because he knew that God is an all powerful
God and is in control of all things. The Bible became alive to
him as he read and mediated on God’s word. God promised
him in His word that he would never leave him nor forsake him.
This became very real to him when he went through the darkest
moments of his life in the hospital. Every time Ling needed help
when he suffered from phlegm and it needed to be sucked out, the
nurses came at the right moment and sucked it out for him.
Apart from the blessing of his grand daughter (Janine), God had
given him many other blessings. Even from the beginning when he
regained consciousness, God gave him a vision of dancers dancing,
singing and worshiping the Lord. This was God’s way of cheering
him up. God also used someone from Integrity Music to bless him
a CD player and Don Moen’s CDs. At the ‘Festival of
Praise’ Ling was privileged to meet Don Moen who dedicated
a song ‘God will make a way’ to him. The latest blessing
he received from God was when he went to a healing service. He
prayed that God will heal him, but God had other plans for him.
He did not heal him and Ling felt very disappointed, but in the
Daily Bread God spoke to him. It read ‘weeping may endure
for a night but joy comes in the morning and Jesus can turn your
sorrow into dancing. An hour later, his daughter called to inform
him that she was pregnant with her first child. Yes, Jesus turned
his sorrow into joy.
WHAT
ARE THE LESSONS LING LEARNT FORM THE ACCIDENT?
a) He learnt the power of prayer. If we have any worries, we can
always pray to Him. God hears our prayers and answers them according
to His will. What matters most is not how much we have, but our
relationship with Him. He loves us and is an all powerful God
who is in control of all things.
b)
God has a plan for each and everyone of us. He is always with
us to give us strength and comfort to see us through the difficulties.
In Romans 8:28, the Bible says “And we know that in all
things God works for the good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose.”
c)
We must trust and walk closely with Him, holding His hands so
that if we fall or go through storms in our life, He will be there
to pull us up or guide us through these difficult times. We have
a friend whom we can talk to anytime.
MARGARET
LING’S TESTIMONY
Experiencing God – His amazing Grace
After the accident, Margaret could not remember anything of the
accident. God had been merciful and blocked the memory because
God knew how much she could take. One thing Margaret realized
was that one can have many friends and loving family around her
but can still feel lonely because they could not be with her twenty-four
hours. Only God can because He is Omnipresent.
Margaret questioned God why He allowed the accident to occur.
God brought to her mind that when she first became a Christian,
she learnt that she should take up Jesus’ cross and follow
Him. He did not promise a smooth life but He promised love, comfort,
peace and hope. God knew exactly what Margaret needed –
He assured her through the Daily Bread on 30 May 2005 that she
was precious to Him (Luke 12: 6-7).
She also found that God’s timing is perfect. When her valuables
were brought to her, her chain with the cross pendent was missing.
After three days of searching they were still unable find it.
When the hospital returned Ling’s belongs to her, she saw
his blood coated wedding ring and just broke down in tears. The
hospital staff advised them to go home and on reaching home her
daughter found her chain and the cross pendant on top of the washing
machine and gave it to Margaret. At that moment, she knew that
God was trying to tell her in Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I
leave you; never will I forsake you”. She realized that
God’s timing was perfect because if she had found it earlier
she would be still depressed.
As Margaret wondered why God allowed this accident to occur, God
used Margaret to minister to a Malaysian lady who was very discouraged
and depressed when her husband went in and out of the intensive
care unit (ICU). (Jeremiah 17: 7)
God
showed Himself as a God of Miracles when a friend Robert Kee went
to Cambodia and found a wooden carving with the words “God
bless the Lings” and bought it for her. Indeed God had shown
that He loved her and her family.
Through
this accident, two of her unsaved friends decided to accept Christ
and get baptist although Margaret had been trying to persuade
them for over ten years. Through all the incidents Margaret found
that God’s word gave her strength, hope, peace and joy.
She also realized that God had prepared them spiritually before
they left for Alabama when they attended the Purpose Driven Life
(PDL) course in Bedok Methodist Church.
WHAT ARE THE LESSONS LEARNT BY MARGARET LING?
a) Her hope in difficult times was not based on positive thinking
but on the Word of God. God is sovereign and is in control. Accidents
were just incidents on God’s good plan for them. Disappoints
are His-appointments.
b)
She found that she could not dictate to God on how they can serve
Him. When they asked God for Ling’s healing, God impressed
upon Margaret this “Don’t ask for healing to do My
work but My work and healing is by My Grace”.
c)
God’s timing is perfect. He gave them this message in Ecclesiastes
8: 5 -6
CONCLUSION
In both their testimonies, they experienced God’s love and
His presence as He saw them through the difficult times. God used
their lives to glorify His Name and be an encouragement to those
around them and also to many parts of the world. They were just
ordinary people who heard, obeyed and trusted God. God, in turn
used them in an extraordinary way to glorify His Name. They both
agreed that life would have taken a very different path if they
had not accepted Jesus into their lives and followed Him. If you
have not accepted Jesus into your life or is still undecided,
I would like to encourage you to invite Jesus into your life right
now as you never know what tomorrow brings.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you for the way you have used Ling Swee
Chan and Margaret in their lives. I pray that I would learn to
trust in You in all I do. Help me to strengthen my relationship
with You as I seek to spend time with You. Use me Lord to glorify
Your Name. Amen
Devotional
based on testimonies by Ling Swee Chin and Margaret Ling