June 17 2019 – Click here to listen
A friend of mine ended up in the hospital with a heart attack a couple of days ago. Fortunately, he was near a hospital and when he arrived the cardiologist just happened to be onsite and through his quick action my buddy was able to avoid severe damage to his heart and quite possibly loss of his life.
The backdrop to this story actually began when he and his wife planned on coming to the Florida Keys and visiting us. Unexpectedly we could not move into the house we had rented, and we thought we would have to return home, so I called and told him the situation and told him we could no longer accommodate their visit.
Surprisingly the next day my wife was able to find another house which included a dock big enough to accommodate my large boat and allow us to have our little pooch. It was nothing short of miraculous on such short notice. So, I called my good friend back and told him we had found another house and to come on down, but by then he had changed his plans and decided to stay in Tallahassee.
Our initial plan for the day of his heart attack was to go far offshore fishing. I shudder to think what might have been if he had the attack when we were 34 miles offshore. I told him mouth to mouth resuscitation would have been off the table and he would have just had to die out there if he needed me to administer it. Also, getting him to a hospital in a reasonable amount of time from that far offshore would have proven to be extremely challenging too.
I spoke with him in the hospital and while we discussed all of the “what ifs” we came to the swift understanding that God knew ahead of time what we didn’t and had orchestrated my friend being near a hospital complete with their top cardiologist onsite. We all were initially a little disappointed that we couldn’t spend time together, but God’s purpose for getting him back home near a great hospital to get the excellent care he needed was cause for rejoicing and celebration.
I used to moan and gripe when things didn’t go exactly the way I thought they should but now that I’m old I just take things in stride. I know that God is watching every move we make, and all things work out for the good of those who love Him. C.S. Lewis once wrote:
God whispers to us in our pleasures,
speaks in our conscience,
but shouts in our pains:
it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
I heard God shouting and I’m sure my buddy felt the pain; now if only the world would be roused. Please join me in praying for a full recovery for my friend with no lasting effects from this heart attack.
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.