“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.” 2 Peter 3:9, 10
I sat on the gurney in the emergency room hooked up to a heart monitor. My husband sat nervously by my side as the doctor explained there was a slight abnormality in my EKG. They would be keeping me overnight in the observation unit to do more tests in the morning and determine if I might have had a heart attack.
At 56 years old this is not something I expected to be doing. As I lay there and prayed for the doctors to make the right diagnosis, a deep calm descended on me. I answered questions and went along with what they tried to do to relieve the tightness in my chest and the shortness of breath. I had no fear.
The testing showed no heart attack. We rejoiced and went home, knowing I had to undergo more testing, but the worst thing that could have happened, had not. God is good!
One day it will be your turn. The end of life comes to us all. We don’t always know it is coming. It can happen in an instant.
I have faced cancer twice. Once it was, once it was not. I have been blessed to have 8 years free of cancer, and now am blessed to have not experienced heart attack. I know many others who have not been so fortunate.
I could not have had such calm if I was not in His word on a daily basis, learning to know the God of the universe who died for my sins so that when the times of testing come I can say with Him, “Not my will, but yours.”
Paul says it is not God’s will that any should perish. God wants each and every one of us in heaven with Him for all eternity. He wants you. He loves you. He died for you.
Determine today to get on your knees and either thank God for His grace and goodness, or to confess your sins and accept the forgiveness only Jesus Christ can offer. Be ready and then you can be at peace.
Copyright by Norma Gail Thurston-Holtman & 2MefromHim Ministries, 2011. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission of author.
2 Comments
Many of us are so glad you’re okay, Norma. And I do agree with you on that note. We need to be ready and spend our days to be Christ-like so that when we are called home, we’ll come running, happily to be with God eternally.
Many of us are so glad you’re okay, Norma. And I do agree with you on that note. We need to be ready and spend our days to be Christ-like so that when we are called home, we’ll come running, happily to be with God eternally.