In April 2011, I took advantage of a health fair in Colorado. I had all the tests: lungs, blood pressure, sight, hearing, cholesterol, etc. I received perfect results from all tests. I was working in agriculture, so I was outdoors, getting plenty of exercise and doing all the things related to a healthy lifestyle. Three weeks later, I was rushed to the ER while having a heart attack. The problem was solved by installing two stents in a major blood vessel of my heart. In June 2011, I celebrated my 46th birthday much wiser for the experience.
Where did that brush with death come from?
According to the wisdom of modern medical science, none of the indicators were present in my tests. My risk for a heart attack was zero. And yet… Another part of the story. I began a relationship with Christ in 1977 when I had my first encounter with the Gospel of John. From the beginning, I devoured the scriptures daily. I developed into a bible teacher, leader of an evangelistic ministry and a model of religious Christianity.
Contact with the newly developed World Wide Web in 1997 had an extremely negative impact on my life. Access to pornography led to meeting up with women and couples. My marriage was destroyed and my promising future as an apprentice architect was taken away. By 2004, I had been excommunicated from the Presbyterian Church and was living in my car without a job. From 2004 to 2011, I was on a major roller coaster ride, wrestling with my faith and deep understanding of God’s Word while living a life of rebellion. God sent a clear message in May 2011:
“Your life is not in your own hands. It is in my hands.”
That message was the beginning of repentance and a return to Christ. From that point forward, I started to make a slow painful climb out of a deep and dark pit. I wish I could tell you that I turned back to God in an instant. I turned back to His Word with a new understanding. I started going to an Evangelical Free Church. I stopped meeting women, but the fight with pornography was much more difficult.
The Lord is merciful. Though He allowed me to struggle, He was working out a much greater plan. I was far from being spiritually healthy when I met Sandra in 2012 and came to Medellin in January 2013, but God’s Word and His Holy Spirit were working in me. By 2016, I was seeing major spiritual transformations taking place. I was struggling with some anger and bitterness, but pornography and adultery were behind me.
In 2017, Sandra began a relationship with Christ, not because of my great wisdom or power presentation of the Gospel, but because God’s Word (the Gospel of John) had a powerful impact on her. My faith multiplied as I watched the power of God’s Word working in her life. I was amazed at her hunger for the scriptures and awestruck by the transformations of the Holy Spirit in her life. The testimony of her life has spread to many people and had a powerful transforming effect.
As I look at what has happened since that brush with death in 2011, numerous passages of scripture come to mind, but none speak to me more directly and with greater power than Psalm 119:92-94:
Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would then have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have given me life.
I am Yours, save me;
For I have sought Your precepts.
God’s Word saves. It transforms death into life. Apart from God's Word, we are dead in our sin, separated from God and will spend eternity cut off from Him. My story offers a sober warning to my brothers and sisters in Christ. You might turn away from God and rebel against Him, but it will come with an enormous price. Among the costs I have to endure is complete separation from my two children, who rarely speak to me. When they do speak to me, it is to blame me for the damages caused to their lives.
My story is also one of rejoicing, because God will restore those who humble themselves before Him, repent and seek Him. There is one more message, a warning, which comes from my story. I am sharing this story right now because this warning needs to be heard. In the next months and years, each of us is going to face struggles of various kinds. On the horizon for Colombia and countries across the globe is the spread of Coronavirus. If it follows the same trajectory as Italy, Spain and France, we are going to see family, friends and neighbors die. We could see mandatory quarantines, difficulties with finding food and supplies, and a significant economic impact.
As difficulties mount, there is only one place to turn. Many have been quoting Psalm 91:10, which is a reminder of how God protects His people, but I want to draw your attention to Psalm 90:12:
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
I am sharing with each of you the same message God provided to me in 2011. Give all glory to God that your life is not in your own hands. Instead, your life is in God’s powerful hands. If you have not begun a relationship with Christ, would like to make a prayer request, and/or want to know more about God's Word, send me a message at:
bil@wmwriter.com
