Facing Up To Life - and Death.

[DJ]

On 25th August 2009 the surgeons performed a 12 hour triple heart bypass and two valve replacements on me. My chances of surviving was10-1. For five days I was in the Critical Care Unit with 24/7 life support. As I type this I am able to walk short distances and do a few things for myself, but I am not quite out of the woods yet. Unlike any other time of my existence I have faced up to life and death in a very real way.

Facing Up To Life - and Death.

As you are reading this I should be recovering from my operation and regaining my strength. Right now however, the prospect of having my heart cut open to replace valves with those from a pig’s heart does not fill me with glee, but if it has to be done it has to be done.

Of course by the time you read this I might not have survived the operation. Something may have gone seriously wrong and these may be among the last words of mine you will read.

I have to face that because surgeons now must explain all the negative outcomes of any procedure to avoid lawsuits. That means I have had to face the one negative outcome spelled out to me of death on the operating table.

Fear

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not relishing the idea of not waking up but rather simply facing the possibility and doing so with fear.

I do this not because I believe the surgeon is incapable of making a mistake. He is good at his job and said, “It’s like flying a jumbo jet, we do it all the time….” but sometimes even jumbo jets crash into the sea.

No, I am not afraid because of the surgeons skill but because everything I have read in the Bible tells me that such a death would not be the end for me. I know that the person who looks out from this damaged body will live forever.

The Bible tells me that there is a great gulf between people and God. He is holy and we, no matter how good we are, are not holy. We fail to reach the standard of life God intended for us. Some may miss by a long way, others only a short distance but we all miss the mark.

Sin

The Bible uses a word for this failure to be what we should be taken from the world of archers who fired arrows at a target and missed. They were said to have “sinned”, failed to make the mark. Some of us in life send our arrows far away from the target and can only admire these who come close, but the point is that none of us makes the mark, no one achieves the standard God has set and the consequence of that “sin” is that it becomes hard to know God in this life and, when death comes, we are separated from Him forever.

New Start

That was never God’s will for us so he sent Jesus to make it possible for us to change. He died as a perfect sacrifice for us and if we believe him, trust what he has done as more than enough to wipe away our sin we can start again.

In fact the Bible says we can be “born again” - become a new person with all our past, no matter how bad, gone forever. Jesus told his disciples he would send the Holy Spirit into them and he makes this change happen. Day by day he turns us, from the inside out to he more and more like Jesus.

What is more, that new person is eternal. Death merely takes away this earthly body designed for this kind of world. One day this world will end and all those who throughout the centuries have become new people will be given a new kind of body for a new kind of world, not a physical body like this but a spiritual body like Jesus has now.

Paul

Paul was one of the first Christians. We have a number of his letters included in the Bible and in one he explains how he has suffered to get the message of Jesus to new believers.

In one he says, "This is a trustworthy saying:

If we die with him,
we will also live with him.
If we endure hardship,
we will reign with him.
If we deny him,
he will deny us.’” (2 Timothy 2:11-12).


In another he says, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:22-23).

Gift

The wages of sin is death, not just the death we all must experience, but eternal death, eternal separation from God. We earn that by sin, by missing the mark no matter how close we come or how far. However, if the wages of sin comes automatically, as wages do following our work, so the gift of God is eternal life. It is not earned by doing good because none of us can be good enough. It does not come automatically it is a gift and must be accepted.

If I gave you a birthday present of a special book you wanted you cannot enjoy it unless you first accept it and unwrap it. Only then is it yours. So too with the gift of God which is eternal life. I am not afraid of death on the operating table because I have accepted this gift. Whatever happens to me in hospital I know that the real me is secure. My faith is in Jesus. My trust is not in my own goodness, but in the God who loved me enough to take human form and offer it as a sacrifice. I know that sin was washed away in the blood from the cross and that I am now a new person, an adopted child of God and so have an eternal destiny ahead of me.

Security

It may be you too are facing an operation, Perhaps as serious or even more serious than mine. Perhaps you have lived a full life and are now facing death, knowing you cannot go on forever. Maybe you are simply unhappy with your life and want to know the security of making a fresh start, becoming a new person with everlasting life. Maybe you have doubts about the way you are leading your life.

If so, this gift of God is the only answer. If I fully survive my operation I hope to write more. I have a future I can trust in. I pray you may have one also.

[Eagle Eye]

I am glad to hear your recovering David. I let folks know on the other board, I hope that was ok with you.

[DJ]

I received some exciting news last Wednesday 11th November, when for the first time since my open heart surgery, I had a consultation with the Surgeon who performed the procedure.

After a thorough examination, including ECG, X-rays and blood tests, he declared me surgically completely healed. I no longer have to take any drugs and have been completely discharged from further medical monitoring.

I notice, that whilst there is no activity on this or the sister lounge 'God's Lounge', I have noted that 75 people have read this post and because of that I would like to give a short personal testimony ....

A few days before my surgery a Christian (an elder in my own Church) told me that his mother-in-law had had the same operation that I was about to undergo and had died whilst in the post operation Critical Care Unit. I got very distressed and worried by those words. The next day I arrived early to our Church prayer meeting and was having a little practice on the piano. I stumbled across a very old Hymn Book and was really drawn to the words of an old hymn which I hitherto had no knowledge of.

It was as though God Himself was speaking to me as three phrases of the hymn just burned on my heart and lifted me up to the spiritual mountain top, they were ...

"All the way my Saviour leads me...."
"For I know what e'er befall me...."
"Jesus doeth all things well"

He proved true to that Word - Jesus has done all things well - I am ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven.

It would be good to know what the situation is with Bonnie - so much silence for too long.

All the way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav'nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate'er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well,
For I know, whate'er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter,
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! a spring of joy I see,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! a spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me;
Oh, the fullness of His grace!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father's blest embrace.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day,
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way,
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.

Source: (with music) http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/701

David

[Eagle Eye]

Thank God, I am glad to hear your testimony.
Keep Bonnie in your prayers, she is still in the nursing home and I pray on the road to recovery herself.