In the Sweet By and By

Lee Chor Sian—Singapore

Sister Lee Chor Sian hails from Alor Star, a town in northern Malaysia. She moved to Singapore in 2001 to live with her children after her late husband Bro Lew Sey Lou rested in the Lord in 2000. In this testimony, Sis Lee recounts the two dreams she had when her late husband fell seriously ill and shortly before he passed away.

Hallelujah, in the holy name of Jesus I bear testimony.

In July1989, my fifty-nine-year-old husband suffered a heart attack that left him in a coma. Sent to the hospital, he was immediately admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. The suddenness of the heart attack caught us completely off-guard. Up till then, he had always been very healthy, with no complaint of any sickness or pain. So it pained us to see him lying motionless in the Intensive Care Unit. But our resident preacher constantly encouraged me, "Rely on the Lord! Rely on the Lord!” Indeed, there was little we could do, so we entrusted everything to the Lord, asking for His mercy and help through prayer.

The First Dream

After returning home from the hospital that night, I was unable to fall asleep, so I knelt down to pray. I asked God to protect and to preserve my husband’s life, as I really could not bear him leaving us. Tears covered my face as I cried out, "Lord! Save him from his affliction." After I prayed, I got into bed and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. I then had a dream where I saw myself holding hands with my husband, happily walking and singing the hymn “Praise Ye the Lord of Hosts” together. It was such a joy to sing. All of a sudden, I heard the sound of a choir and saw a very bright light illuminating the path, leading us to a very large, beautiful and bright garden. Inside the garden, there were many people wearing garments of pure white, and all of them were also singing the hymn we had been singing. However, when my husband and I were about to step into the garden, a voice suddenly said, "It is not time!" I shouted, "Hallelujah!" and awoke, realizing that it was a dream. My heart was filled with inexpressible joy! I knelt down to pray and was filled with the Holy Spirit, and I thought to myself, "Sey Lou, there's hope for you. The Lord Jesus has saved you!" The next day when I went to the hospital to visit him, he was already awake. All thanks to the grace of the Lord.

Besides my family, the brethren in Alor Star and Singapore had also been praying with one heart to ask for God's mercy, protection, and, by His will, the extension of my husband’s life, as life is in the hands of God. The Lord knows our needs and He heard our cries. By the Lord’s grace, my husband was allowed to live peacefully for another eleven years, to keep his faith and be blessed with health and happiness. God gave him three filial children and allowed him to see each of them grow up, establish a career and set up their own families. He became a father and also a grandfather. Indeed, God gave him bountiful blessings in his extra time!

The Second Dream

I had my second dream on the night of November 1, 2000. That day was our forty-second wedding anniversary. While chatting during the day, we talked about many things, including church, family, and all the other important things in our life. My husband’s heart was full of thanksgiving to the Lord for His guidance, peace, and blessing, and for our three filial children and their spouses. He said, "I am really contented. I have already reached a ripe old age of seventy. Now all I want is for the Lord Jesus to preserve my spiritual life so that I may enjoy my latter years in Him. I want to have a good rest." I told him that we were both old and indeed the most important thing was to keep our faith and look forward to the kingdom of heaven.

That night, I had another dream in which my husband and I were holding hands as we walked along. But when we arrived at our doorstep, he was suddenly missing. A very bright light shone on our house and the whole house lit up! I shouted aloud, "Hallelujah!" and woke up. Immediately, I knelt down to pray. Tears covered my face and I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I understood what the will of God was. God was preparing to take my husband home. God had heard his prayer and was going to answer it, allowing him to have a good rest in the best circumstances so that he would be free of any pain or worry.

On the morning of November 3, 2000, my husband appeared his usual healthy self. He went with me to the market; we met some friends and had a good chat and laugh together. When we reached home, he helped me to clean the house; then he read the newspaper, listened to some music, and chatted joyfully with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter who had come from Penang (they returned home every week to spend time with him). At slightly past 4 p.m., he complained of discomfort in his stomach so I got him to lie down. He did not eat anything but only took some medicine and drank a cup of water. I suggested going to consult the doctor later but his only answer to that was to ask me to pray. So we prayed together and I heard him pray very loudly, filled with the Holy Spirit. After shouting Hallelujah thrice—the last shout being the loudest—he was silent. I quickly rose from prayer, looked at him and called out to him. He opened his eyes, looked at me whilst still holding my hands, closed his eyes and, just like that, departed peacefully. At that moment, I understood the will of God. It was time for him to return to the Lord. But God had taken him home so quickly! While I accepted God’s wonderful will, being human, my heart was still filled with longing for him! I will always remember and miss him—a good husband, a good father, a good helper and brother in church.

As humans, we would try to keep our loved ones by our side as long as possible. But the Lord knows better. In fact, the Lord knows the best time. Although I may have wanted my husband to tarry a while longer in this world with me, the Almighty Omniscient God decided that it was best to give him rest in a far better place.

Our God is a faithful God. He makes many promises to us through His word; we can say “amen” to all these—for they will all be fulfilled. Importantly, I know that there is a beautiful place awaiting us if we preserve our faith till the very end.

Our God is a loving and compassionate God. Like a good father, He will grant our request, if something is good for us and we ask for it with faith. After my husband’s first heart attack, God hearkened to our request to sustain his life. Later, He fulfilled my husband’s simple request of rest in Him. As for me, I am especially grateful for God’s special gifts to me: He had prepared and comforted me through two special dreams, as well as the full motivation of the Holy Spirit as I prayed. He had provided a wonderful time for me to have a good talk with my husband and to witness my husband in his final prayer, being greatly filled by the Holy Spirit. Our God is indeed a wonderful merciful Savior.

May the grace and peace of God be with everyone. May all the glory and honor be given to our God in heaven.