His blood pressure was spiking, and his mind was racing, as the doctor approached his hospital bed. Eager to face the music, he bypassed the obligatory greetings and blurted out, “It’s bad, isn’t it? I know I’m dying. How long do I have?”
To his surprise the doctor answered calmly, almost cheerfully, “You did have a heart attack and we have determined that several of your arteries are blocked.” Then with a smile he added, “But it is not time for us to despair. With surgery you may live another twenty or thirty years.”
His wife, who had been keeping vigil by his side squeezed his hand, as if to say, “Give the man a chance. Hear him out.” But all he could think was, “What a shocking thing to say! How could the man be so chipper? Was he naive or uncaring? What gave him so much hope and optimism?”
The answer is simple: the doctor was a believer. He had studied the principles of medicine and he knew how the human body worked. He had read and heard many stories of successful heart surgeries. Most importantly, he had performed many surgeries that resulted in healed hearts and healthy patients. He didn’t know the future, but he knew enough, and had enough experience, to be confident that this man’s heart condition was, very likely, not going to be fatal.
Similar conversations take place every day at schools, in businesses and in restaurants and living rooms. Someone whose heart has been broken, someone who is grieving loss, or someone who is worried by what they are seeing take place in our chaotic world, asks, “It’s bad, isn’t it? Are we going to make it?”
If they ask a believer, they might get a “chipper” response. At first it may seem like the believer is just naïve, or an incurable optimist. But believers are not airheads or clueless simpletons. Many of them have studied the principles of the universe and they know how the body, soul and spirit work. Often, they have had extensive personal experience with difficulties, loss and abuse. But they have also experienced the kind of heart surgery that only God can perform. It has changed their life so profoundly that they can calmly say, “It is not time for despair.” Unbelievers might be understandably skeptical. Those who have not yet experienced the miracles of grace might mistakenly think believers are simply not willing to face reality. But, look around. After thousands of years there are millions of believers, from every people group and socio-economic class. There are highly educated believers and widely traveled believers. There are artistic believers and analytical believers. There are thousands of believers who were once very skeptical of the chipper, hopeful people who talked about grace and sang about heaven. But, at some point, like the heart patient, they took a chance on the Great Physician and their heart was forever changed.