A Dentist’s Stunning Story- Dr. Rajendran

It is by the pure grace of God that I was saved from premature death by suicide. Moreover I had planned that we would die together as a family. Save for the intervention of our loving Lord, I should have died long ago.

After my pre-medical studies, I enrolled at the Madras Medical College for my dental studies. There, after the third month, I was admitted in the hospital with a severe sickness. The doctors aspirated one hundred and twenty ounces of fluid from my lungs. I was in the hospital for fifteen months. Two doctors were treating me. So many thousands of tablets were given to me, but I was not cured. The surgeon who attended on me said that I had to undergo major surgery. He told me that the operation would take seven hours to perform.

At this juncture, a family from the Laymen’s Evangelical Fellowship, who had come to visit their son in the hospital, met me. They gave me the Gospel of Jesus Christ at that time. Once or twice they used to pick me up in their car and take me to the Sunday services of the Fellowship.

All arrangements were made for my operation and a few bottles of blood were also reserved for me. Even before the dawn of the operation day, the surgeon came and confirmed that the operation would be done as planned. But the family that visited me told me that they had informed the fasting-prayer group of the Fellowship about this operation and that many people were praying for me. And they also said that the operation would not be performed. I did not believe that. Nevertheless that gentleman maintained that the operation would not be done. He told me definitely that God was going to do a miracle in my life.

That miracle happened! I was discharged from the hospital without surgery. The surgeon who had said that the operation should be done, himself came and told me that the operation was not necessary. From that day, I believed that the Lord Jesus was the Living God. But I did not have any understanding of the truth of God or any compunction of conscience concerning my sins. I did not know that I had to repent before God for my sins and tell Him all my wrong-doing. Neither did I know that setting matters right with those whom I had wronged was necessary, in order to receive a true heart-cleansing.

I began to pray every day and read the Bible. I selected a church near my house and went there very regularly. But I did not want to hear God’s Word. Only I left my belief in idols and Hindu gods, but my wicked nature was not changed. I used to have unclean thoughts. My imagination was evil and corrupt. Even until midnight I used to read pornographic books. I used deceitful means to get a lot of money from my parents and spent it as I liked. Sometimes I even stole money from my father’s pocket. I used to see the same movie ten to fifteen times. I was also an expert in telling lies.

When I had finished my studies, I opened a dental clinic. At this point, I got married and began practising as a dental surgeon. We shifted our residence to a suitable location to attract many patients. But then a great desire for money began to dominate me. When I entered into the clinic, if I saw six patients waiting, I used to immediately calculate how much money I would make. I would gloat over the prospect of much money coming in that day. Whenever a patient brought a lesser amount than my minimum charge for a tooth extraction, I used to send him away. Even if he was suffering extreme agony, I would have no mercy—he should first produce the money. Yet, with so much money in our hands, we could not be happy as husband and wife. So many days I suffered without sleep. We used to always have misunderstandings and so would give way to fighting and that for no real reason at all.

In the meantime I had also risen in my profession in the academic world. I now held the position of Assistant Professor in the College of Dentistry in the University of Madras.

At my place of work I conveyed to all my colleagues a totally false picture so that they thought I was a happy man; but they could not understand the condition of my heart and my sorrows. It was a curse actually. I was not able to understand that all the discord, distress, disharmony and pain we suffered were because of my sins.

On the 15th of March 1970, one Sunday evening, we all wanted to commit suicide. I told my wife that I would go out and buy some poison. She was crying. I was crying and my child was also crying. We were crying out of a sense of misery. There was no one to comfort us at that time. But one thing was troubling me—how to give poison to my only child. But I made up my mind that I had to poison my child too; she had to die with me and my wife.

Having taken this decision to end our lives, it is a mystery to us how we went to the local Fellowship Centre that very day. Now only I understand that it was by the grace of God which had followed me because of the prayers that were made for me some years before. God kept a family waiting for us at the Fellowship Centre to counsel us. So the resolve to commit suicide was given up. They began to pray faithfully for us. They used to come to our house and give personal counselling to us and pray with us.

Deep conviction of sin came into my heart. I could not keep quiet without setting my conscience right. I wrote to my parents of my deceit and uncleanness. I sent money to the railways because I had traveled in the first class compartment with a third class ticket. I had not paid Income Tax for six years. But God spoke to me through Romans 13:7, "Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom;…"

So I settled my Income Tax arrears. Although I was a gazetted officer (high ranking official of the government), I had stolen medicine from the hospital for my own use. So I went to the Director and confessed this and returned the money to the government.

I had not been faithful to my wife. I was postponing my confession to my wife for sometime because of my pride. Moreover, I knew that my wife would never have suspected that I had done such things. But God did not allow me to rest. One Sunday evening, a powerful message was given at the Fellowship Centre which spoke to me of my sin. The message was, "The walls of your family will be destroyed if there are hidden sins in your family." I could not sleep that night. Early in the morning, I wept like a child and sought pardon of my wife. When these sins were set right, God spoke to me through Matthew 9:2, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." How happy I was when the Lord Jesus confirmed through His eternal Word that He had cleansed me and washed my sins away in His own Blood.

After this experience of deliverance, within a few months God spoke to me that I should set aside some of my time to help others to find deliverance. The children of God prayed about this matter, and I was let to start a dental clinic in a thickly populated part of my city, where people would then get a chance to hear God’s Word. The location chosen was one where there were few who knew about the Living Saviour.

Now at our Gospel Dental Clinic, the Good News that Christ changes people and gives them peace is shared with many nominal Christians and people of other faiths. One Brahmin boy who was afflicted by evil spirits was miraculously healed of God, through the Word of God and the prayers of God’s children. After the Lord Jesus healed him, his father came and told me one day, "My son had been living like an animal last year; but he lives like a human being today because of the prayer of your Fellowship."

People used to come to me and ask for false certificates and false bills too, to be given to them for use to make false medical claims. They wanted to present these false medical certificates to their offices, to obtain leave of absence and higher amounts from medical insurance. In the past, I used to oblige them and for gain gave false certificates. But after the Lord Jesus touched me, I could not do so. One the other hand, when approached for a false certificate, I took the opportunity to give my testimony and to give the Good News in Christ which sets men free from their native bent for deceit and greed.

God has given me a little work to do for Him and I must do it faithfully. Spiritually, I am still young and need more strength. But one thing I can boldly say: God loves me and the fellowship of His servants and the Word of God strengthens me. Even when Satan tries to bring confusion or trouble into my life, the counsels of His servants encourage me.

Thus God gives my family much spiritual protection. I want to serve the Lord Jesus, who gave His life for me, faithfully all the days of my life.