HOW DID YOU LIKE YOUR HEART ATTACK?
Bob Benson in See You at the House relates a conversation with a friend who’d recently had a serious heart attack. After he recovered, Bob asked him a peculiar question. “How did you like your heart attack?”
“It almost scared me to death.”
“Would you do it again?”
“No!”
“Would you recommend it?
“Definitely not!”
Then Bob asked, “Does your life mean more to you now than it did before?”
“Well… yes,” his friend replied.
“Are you and your wife closer now than ever?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have deeper compassion for people?”
“Yes I do.”
“Do you know the Lord in a richer fellowship than you ever realized?”
“Yes.”
Then Bob asked, “So, how’d you like your heart attack?” (Source: Max Lucado, You’ll Get Through This)
I certainly wouldn’t recommend that approach with everyone, but Bob Benson’s questions are thought-provoking. Big-scale misfortunes are mighty powerful wake-up calls to draw us closer to Jesus. We zoom through life, often missing the messages God wants to teach us. He’s constantly whispering to our hearts, but adversity gets our attention like nothing else.
In Psalm 119 the writer observes, “I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word” (v 67). “My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees” (v 71). “I know, O Lord, that your regulations are fair; you disciplined me because I needed it” (v 75). Anyone see a pattern here? Rather than whining about our woes, perhaps we should spend more time praising God for them. Adversity is our friend.
We humans are strange creatures, aren’t we? Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. It may take a serious calamity to open our eyes to matters staring us square in the face—such as the importance of love, gratitude and trust.
Here’s a thought. We don’t have to wait for a heart attack to wake us up to our need for spiritual growth. A difficult co-worker helps us develop patience. We learn forgiveness from an argument with our spouse. When another driver cuts us off, we can practice longsuffering, or more aptly lonnnggg-suffering. These troubles aren’t fun, but rather than waiting for a heart-attack to lay us flat, let’s ask ourselves, how can I grow from these experiences?
What if we embrace our challenges as growth opportunities? What if we celebrate our adversities? Let’s not wait for a real heart-attack to wake us up.
Principle: God uses the disasters in our lives to teach us valuable lessons.
Ponder:
What “heart-attacks” (serious challenges) has God used to get your attention?
How can you learn from the smaller difficulties in life?
Pursue: For a deeper dive, study Psalm 119:65-96.
Prayer: Loving Father, open my eyes to growth opportunities around me. Help me not to wait for a disaster to learn these valuable lessons.
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