“Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.” Psalm 73:23-26 (KJV)
It was a lazy, Thursday afternoon in June, 2004. I decided that I would complete two small but important projects. First, our Ladies’ Ministry had planned a “Ladies Weekend” in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and 9 women were planning to leave early the next morning. The rear seat of the church’s 18-passenger van needed to be removed to provide space for their luggage. Second, the cross used in our Easter program was lying in the trash pile, but after several weeks, the city trash workers still had not carried it away. It was only a few 2x4s nailed together, but I concluded that perhaps the trash workers were superstitious about destroying a cross. I decided to disassemble it to allay their fears.
So with crowbar and hammer, I grunted and sweated until the cross was only a small pile of 2x4s. One project down, one more to go despite that I was tired, hot, and drenched with perspiration. I unlocked the back door of the church basement then unlocked the van and removed the rear seat. The bulk of the seat made it a two-person job, but I huffed and puffed until I finally got the seat into the basement. I locked the church door. I locked the van and started toward the Parsonage to get some iced tea and a shower. That’s when I felt the pain grip the left side of my chest under my arm. I shrugged it off, thinking it was a muscle spasm. I had certainly over-exercised myself with the cross and the van seat.
After a shower, as I put on my clothes, the pain returned and I began perspiring profusely. That is how I ended up on a gurney in the ER of a local hospital. I can honestly say that I never got scared or disturbed about my physical survival. I firmly committed myself to the will of the Father. He sent three friends, and Christian brothers, to be with me in the ER. I asked them to pray for me and believe with me.
As they laid hands on me and prayed, the Lord touched me. The pain left but returned after twenty minutes. The doctor came to the conclusion that I needed to stay overnight and let a cardiologist decide our next move. The long story shortened . . . on Friday afternoon, I underwent a stress test, which indicated some abnormality in the bottom of my heart. Saturday morning, he did an arteriogram to check for damage or blockage. During this procedure, the cardiologist talked to me, “There is no damage. There is no blockage. There’s nothing wrong with this heart. Everybody ought to have pipes like these.” In the ER, on Thursday evening, as those men prayed, God had fixed the problem and the arteriogram confirmed it.
God is the only one in whom I trust. My body and heart may fail me, but he never will. He is my strength and my inheritance forever.
P.S. The trash department removed my pile of 2x4s the very next week.
Dear Father, thank you for your mercy and grace. Thank you for healing my body and soul. Thank you for being there when we need you most. We are grateful for your abiding presence and guiding counsel. How could we ever trust anyone else but you? Thank you for being our never failing strength and our inheritance. Empower us to testify of your blessings to others. This I pray in Jesus’ name. AMEN
Let us praise God for his faithfulness and witness to his grace,
Pastor Smith