His Heart Could Have Stopped
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” - James 1: 2-3
Last week I sat with my friend in the hospital waiting room waiting for news about her father. He was admitted to the hospital for a heart procedure. His heart was beating in an irregular pattern and the doctors were concerned. They wanted to try a procedure to put his heart back into a regular rhythm.
The procedure involved shocking his heart with a defibrillator – the type of machine that discharges an electrical current to the heart in order to shock the heart back into rhythm when the heart is stopped. Yes, the machine that you see on TV and in the movies. The patient is wired to the machine, the machine is charged with electricity, the health care worker yells, “Clear!” everyone stands back and then “Bam!” – the electrical current causes the patient to jump and his heart beat returns to normal.
The major difference between what is seen on TV and dad's procedure was that his heart was beating. When the electrical charge is administered to a beating heart – it can do one of two things – return it to normal or stop it. Stopping a beating heart is generally not a good thing.
Dad was shocked – the heart fluttered – faltered a little – and then returned to a normal rhythm. His procedure was a success. Soon he was in the recovery room waiting to be released. After a few hours he was allowed to leave – eat dinner and return to his normal routine. He felt better.
As I sat there waiting, it dawned on me that we all have a “heart problem.” Sin enters into our heart and causes us to turn away from God. Our heart develops an irregular pattern – we fall into an irregular pattern of worship – an irregular pattern of Bible study – an irregular pattern of prayer. It seems as if we sometimes need a shock to return us back to God.
For some it might be illness. For some it might be a loss. For others it might be financial reverses. For others it might be a family crisis. No matter what the “shock” – it serves to remind us that God is indeed faithful. He can and does bless us – even when we stray from Him. He returns us to our regular rhythm.
Prayer: God, thank you for Your trials. Amen
Last week I sat with my friend in the hospital waiting room waiting for news about her father. He was admitted to the hospital for a heart procedure. His heart was beating in an irregular pattern and the doctors were concerned. They wanted to try a procedure to put his heart back into a regular rhythm.
The procedure involved shocking his heart with a defibrillator – the type of machine that discharges an electrical current to the heart in order to shock the heart back into rhythm when the heart is stopped. Yes, the machine that you see on TV and in the movies. The patient is wired to the machine, the machine is charged with electricity, the health care worker yells, “Clear!” everyone stands back and then “Bam!” – the electrical current causes the patient to jump and his heart beat returns to normal.
The major difference between what is seen on TV and dad's procedure was that his heart was beating. When the electrical charge is administered to a beating heart – it can do one of two things – return it to normal or stop it. Stopping a beating heart is generally not a good thing.
Dad was shocked – the heart fluttered – faltered a little – and then returned to a normal rhythm. His procedure was a success. Soon he was in the recovery room waiting to be released. After a few hours he was allowed to leave – eat dinner and return to his normal routine. He felt better.
As I sat there waiting, it dawned on me that we all have a “heart problem.” Sin enters into our heart and causes us to turn away from God. Our heart develops an irregular pattern – we fall into an irregular pattern of worship – an irregular pattern of Bible study – an irregular pattern of prayer. It seems as if we sometimes need a shock to return us back to God.
For some it might be illness. For some it might be a loss. For others it might be financial reverses. For others it might be a family crisis. No matter what the “shock” – it serves to remind us that God is indeed faithful. He can and does bless us – even when we stray from Him. He returns us to our regular rhythm.
Prayer: God, thank you for Your trials. Amen