When Death Threatens You

Yesterday morning I woke up with an old memory very fresh in my mind.  I was reminded of a day when I was a 13 year-old girl living in Winchester, Kentucky.  I had gone to my bedroom to hang my jacket on the hook on the back of my door.  I tilted my head back and lifted my arms to raise my coat up, and when I did, the sour ball candy that was in my mouth slid down my throat like a speeding bowling ball on a well-greased lane.  I couldn’t cough, gasp or breathe.  It was STUCK in my windpipe. 

I ran into the kitchen where my mother was getting ready to cook supper.  I pointed to my throat, unable to make a sound.  I was frantic, of course, and she couldn’t understand exactly what was going on.  I bent over and pointed at my back while motioning for her to hit me to try to dislodge the candy. Beating did no good, of course, but now understanding that I was choking, she told me to put my hand down my throat and try to dislodge what was there.  At this time I was picturing the ambulance that would inevitably have to come and take me to the hospital because of my inability to breathe.  Desperate, I did what my mother said, and stuck my hand down my throat to try to move the obstruction.  Miraculously, my finger touched it, got behind it, and then sent it sailing across the room.  Air!  It seemed like an eternity since I’d had any. 

What relief my mother and I both felt, realizing that things could have gotten very serious in just a matter of minutes.  That experience did two things for me –

1. It made me turn down any round candy ever offered to me after that!
2. It made me realize the truth that until God is ready for my life to end, He will leave me here.

The flip-side of that is also true – when God is ready to call me home, nothing will keep me here.  Our days are written in God’s book. ” It is appointed unto man once to die” Hebrews 9 says.  That’s why we must each be sure that we know Christ as our own Savior; it could happen in a moment.

I’m sure the reason the memory of my choking was on my mind is due to the many in our church family that have recently suffered some sort of physical trauma.  It’s frightening to see a loved one go through something like this, to see them on the brink of death, wondering if each breath will be their last.  We need to be reminded of the Truth that God  is in the heavens and will do what pleases Him.  Whatever that is, it will be good.  It will be just.  It will be right, because He is good, just and right. 

You and I can trust Him today for our life, and the lives of those we love.  None of us will leave this world until God so ordains, and on the day that that happens, it will be His perfect plan, complete with His sufficient grace.

I heard a quote recently that truly touches my heart. A man who was given a diagnosis of a terminal illness cried out to the doctor, “Don’t threaten me with heaven!” As a believer, anything that would end my life here will be ushering me into the presence of Christ! No, don’t threaten me with heaven, either!

If you’re not sure if you would go to heaven when you die, you can read here how to have an assurance of forgiveness…and an eternity with Jesus Christ!

With hope and joy,