My grandpa is 84 ... maybe 83 (I guess I can't remember). He has a long history of heart disease. Before I came along 36 years ago he'd already suffered a couple of heart attacks as a middle-aged man. In the last few years he has had additional surgeries to relieve blockages in his heart arteries. Such was the case again yesterday. An additional surgery, this one to control the rate of his heartbeat, may be upcoming.
My grandfather was a late spiritual bloomer. It is my grandma who wore the spiritual pants in the family and drug my dad and his siblings to Sunday School. And it was through my grandma that my grandpa decided to try on the Lord. That was decades ago now.
Why do some people live through multiple heart attacks and complicated surgeries and others don't? Is it the skill of the doctor, or the strength of the patient? It certainly could be. Is it God's will? I think in this case, it most certainly has been.
If you're not a Christian, perhaps the evidence is shallow and the theory rediculous. But for me, it's very plain. I believe my grandfather has lived through all that he has because God wasn't ready for my grandpa to die. I believe that God desired my grandfather to be saved from his sin and come to accept Jesus as his savior. In order to save my grandfather's soul, he had to save my grandfather's heart.
What is God's purpose for saving my grandpa's heart now? I can't help but wonder if God doesn't yet have something He intends to accomplish in my grandpa's life. Will God use my grandpa to bring salvation to others in my extended family who live without Christ? Will it be to influence others in his path? Or will God embolden my grandpa to testify of this story that I write -- that God waited out my grandpa for so many years so that he might spend eternity with the Almighty?
Philippians 1:20 "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me."
I pray that my grandpa would know this in his own life as the Apostle Paul knew for himself. If he is to live for another day, or another decade, might it be to live for Christ. Because for as much as we would all miss my grandpa, for him, to die is gain.
"When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15
Thank you God, that in your own good time there will be victory for you through
my grandpa. Thank you for saving his soul. And thank you for the impact that my
grandparent's life has had on my own. I pray that you continue to grant my
grandfather life on this earth. But should you choose not to, we will celebrate
the life that you have prepared for him in the heavenly realms.
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