Impostors in the last days

Posted by Admin on Jun 30, 2014 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on Impostors in the last days

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Second Timothy 3 begins by listing the various characteristics which identify a large portion of the population who will be living in the last days. Surely each generation since Christ has observed some of these unsavory traits in their own unique time period, but now, unfortunately, reading these verses is like checking off a complete laundry list of the prevailing godless attributes in our own time.

Verse 13 goes on to say, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

Take a closer look at the word “impostors” in this verse. First, consider the definition of impostor—one who “assumes [a] false identity or title for the purpose of deception” (MerriamWebster.com). To assume an identity or title that is not your own is lying.

Next, impostors are grouped in verse 13 with evil men. Since lying violates the Word of God, it’s not hard to understand why the Scripture places impostors alongside evil men as those to beware of in the last days.

The verse continues to reveal that impostors will proceed from bad to worse. A lying individual who supposes that he won’t get caught in his falsehood will likely continue to lie. In fact, the lies will become more and more far-fetched because this individual counts on never getting caught or facing consequences. And since lying violates the Word of God, obviously telling a lie is bad. However, as this person continues in his deception and his lies snowball, he gets worse. Impostors—unless they repent—will proceed from bad to worse, just like the Bible says.

Last of all, verse 13 tells us how impostors spend time. They are busy deceiving and being deceived on an ongoing basis. When a person invests in deception, he will eventually believe his own lies. Because of this, deceivers become very deceived. In other words, impostors don’t live in reality. And if those in leadership posts throughout the nation are involved in any part of the deception cycle, their grasp of reality is, at best, faulty, and those under their authority will likely suffer because of it. Hence, the need to pray.

This scenario spelled out in 2 Timothy 3 has caused many in the Body of Christ great concern. If the evil men and impostors among us are going to proceed from bad to worse, then what hope is there for us to even dream that our prayers will be answered?

Tomorrow and Wednesday I want to share with you some “inside facts” in 2 Timothy 3 that have given me great encouragement and resolve. It is my desire that you, also, will find comfort and sale female cialis online be fueled to continue in effective prayer for our nation despite what you may see with your eyes.

Stay tuned!

Dorothy

Consider your heritage

Posted by Admin on Jun 26, 2014 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on Consider your heritage

If I had been the one choosing, I would have lived my entire lifespan in far less interesting times. However, since I am not God and He is (and the world is better off for it!), He saw fit to plop me down in what began as a more quiet time in history. During my life, however, as I toddled through the 50’s, played outside without supervision throughout the 60’s, drank, drugged, and then met Jesus in the 70’s, established a career in the 80’s, bought a home in the 90’s, wept—along with the rest of America—on 9/11/01, and watched wrinkles develop within the past decade of this new century, the history I’ve experienced has raced from placidly boring to hyper-multi-dimensional to what it is now—bordering on violating every boundary.

The Body of Christ is finding herself in an unusual time in history. I believe we are seated on the culmination of history and the return of Jesus Christ; but if not, we are certainly living in interesting times, nonetheless.

And I believe two things. Each of them gives me great hope.

1.)    Acts 17:26-27 lets us in on an important secret about our lives. “…He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

God Himself determined the time and nation of your birth. He chose this year and the particular age you are now to intersect; He chose you for this time. Are you uncomfortable about what’s going on in the world today? It was God’s decision to put you here now; could it be that He did so because He knew that by His grace you would be able to rise above the chaos and generic viagra soft online fulfill all His purposes? I know that He did not place you here to destroy you. Neither did He bring you forth at this time for you to live timidly, hoping to be bland enough to escape the disapproval of a godless culture. Could it be that God has a specific purpose for you to fulfill in this hour? According to the Bible, the answer to that question is YES.

2.)    Bible scholars have referenced a “scarlet thread” in the Old Testament—prophecies, types, and shadows—which point to the Messiah to come. In a similar way, throughout the centuries since Jesus walked the earth, God has woven a strong cord of testimony to His faithfulness, power, and kind intervention. Here’s a chronological sampling:

• God spoke to His people in the first century and established Himself as their God and Father through signs, wonders, and bold preaching of the gospel. The Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles, and the Book of Revelation were written by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and then entrusted to posterity.

• The spark of the gospel remained aglow through humble souls and martyrs who knew their Lord, illuminating the dim light of the dark ages.

• God met with His people and enlarged their tents during the Reformation when once again men started to understand that the just shall live by faith.

• Men and women, both in America and the British Isles, were gripped with fear over the state of their eternal souls and cried out to a Savior who alone could set them free during the First and Second Great Awakenings of the 1730’s and 40’s and 1800’s.

• God watched over His people, sending His mighty Holy Spirit during the great revivals flaming out of Wales and Topeka and Azusa Street, setting men and women ablaze with Pentecostal signs and zeal at the beginning of the twentieth century.

• The Healing Revivals of the teens and twenties and again in the forties and fifties of the twentieth century filled men and women with faith that with God all things are possible.

• God reminded the Vietnam-era psychedelic scene of sixties and seventies that He was not dead but still alive and on the throne during the Jesus Movement. This not so distant time in our past captured the hearts and minds of disenfranchised, counter-culture youth to the love and forgiveness of Christ. Many now in leadership in the body of Christ were swept up as young men and women in those confusing days to be set free by the power of God from sin, addictions, and despair.

• Occurring simultaneously with the Jesus Movement was the Charismatic Renewal. This sovereign move of God started in the 60’s when a group of students from Duquesne University went on a retreat to study the book of Acts and to investigate the claims of Pentecost as described in two books, The Cross and the Switchblade and They Speak with Other Tongues. Many of these folks were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and from there, Charismatic hunger and zeal spread rapidly into both Catholic and mainline Protestant church memberships as well as into the ranks of the unchurched.

• Since the seventies, God has poured rich teaching ministries into the earth, training His people to walk by faith, not by sight, and to live as new creations and more than conquerors, using the full armor of God to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand, to keep standing.

• Churches that preach the uncompromised Word have grown in size and strength in their communities, equipping the body of Christ to walk in love and good works which God has ordained beforehand that they should walk in them.

It is precisely our rich Christian heritage that inspires me to believe that surely God has prepared the Church for such a time as this—even now—even at this time in history. He has equipped us—through the testimonies of our heritage, through His Word, and by His wonderful Holy Spirit—to face with bold integrity and resolute faith anything this world might throw our way.

My contention is this: Just as the scarlet thread woven through the pages of the Old Testament pointed to fulfillment and salvation in Christ, so too does the strong cord of testimony to God’s faithfulness, power, and kind intervention throughout Church history point to the summation—possibly during our very time—of all things in Christ. And if God poured out His wonders during those past dark times, I can’t help but believe that to expect anything less than the supernatural outpouring and intervention of God during our own time—however dark—would be a slap in the face of the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Dorothy

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

One reason I wrote the book

Posted by Admin on Jun 24, 2014 in Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on One reason I wrote the book

I ran into a friend a while back who was halfway through my book, First of All, Pray. She grabbed me by the arm as if she was letting me in on top secret information and said, “I know why you wrote this book! You wrote it so we wouldn’t give up on praying for our country!” Honestly, I couldn’t have put it any better.

She continued, “I got so tired of everything going on in government and politics that I just backed off of praying for the nation. But now I see that we can’t afford to quit—we’ve got to keep pressing in no matter what it looks like.”

She beautifully summed up my purpose for writing the book. I realize that God’s raised up others who are far more adept and experienced in the things of prayer than I am and who have articulated the art of prayer far better than I ever could. Yet, at the same time that I was witnessing widespread, far-reaching decline in the nation, I also observed that that many of my fellow Christians were either bewildered and overwhelmed by everything they saw going on or they refused to acknowledge that anything was amiss at all. And I knew that for God to truly have His way in this nation, He must first have His way in the Church. And that involved two things: being honest about the state of the nation and being boldly vigilant in maintaining an overcoming faith in the God of the Bible.

And so, I am praying this: May the will of God be done—in the Church, in the United States of America, and across the globe—as it is in Heaven. May God’s people in this nation not give up on the high calling and privilege to stand in the gap and pray for America!

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

¹⁷ [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,

¹⁸ By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),

¹⁹ And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,

²⁰ Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],

²¹ Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.

Ephesians 3:17-21, Amplified Bible

Is it appropriate to pray about current events?

Posted by Admin on Jun 23, 2014 in Prayer Perspective, Praying for America | Comments Off on Is it appropriate to pray about current events?

Is it appropriate to pray about current events in our time? Sometimes, because of the intensity of everything going on in the world, you may decide that it’s too much—I’ll just let God handle it; after all, He’s sovereign.

I’ve learned that when I don’t gauge what I’m hearing in the news by the Word of God, a sense of despair can creep in, seeking to weigh me down with fear, worry, and hopelessness. The feeling of oppression that accompanies being overwhelmed can constrict your faith and pressurize you into backing away from praying for our nation. Like the Israelites of long ago, you might feel like a grasshopper before the seemingly insurmountable circumstances facing the country and exploding around the world, and as a result, this can cause you to recoil from praying about what’s going on.

In the Bible, the majority of the men sent in to spy out Canaan were overwhelmed by what they saw. They said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us” (Numbers 13:31b).

And yet Caleb declared, “We should by all means go up and possess the land, for we will surely overcome it” (Numbers 13:30b). Because of his good report, Caleb was commended by God who described him as having a different spirit in following after Him fully (see Numbers 14:24).

I’ve heard several Christians say that they don’t like to intercede about current events because they’re concerned they might pray against the will of God. “After all,” they confide, “we’re in the end times. The Bible says that things will go from bad to worse. If we pray for things to change, aren’t we in danger of praying against the plan of God?”

Jesus said that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy (see John 10:10), and many of the events we witness today absolutely involve stealing, killing, and destroying. When you pray to inject light and truth into situations or pray to hinder or thwart evil, you are not praying against God but against the author of stealing, killing, and destroying—the devil. Of course, as you pray, be alert to the Holy Spirit— He knows the details more intimately than you ever could, so let Him direct how you pray.

You may not be able to impact every current event going on in the world, but if you don’t pray, one thing is certain—you won’t impact anything.

You may be familiar with the story about the man who walked down a beach after thousands of starfish washed ashore. He stooped frequently as he walked to pick up another “sea star” to throw it back into the waves. A companion, seeing the multitude of beached starfish in both directions, asked him, “Look at all those things! Picking up a few dozen and tossing them back into the water won’t make any difference!”

The man straightened back up with another starfish in his hand. Tossing it into the ocean, he replied, “It’ll make a difference to that one!” You may not be able to impact every current event going on in the world, but if you don’t pray, one thing is certain—you won’t impact anything.

But if you are still concerned that you might pray the wrong thing at the wrong time—after all, it may be the end times when things will go from bad to worse—consider this: The Lord Jesus didn’t condemn the man in the parable for pulling his sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath—the day when all work ceased (see Matthew 12:11-12). Instead, this man’s labor of mercy in freeing his innocent animal was acknowledged by Jesus as appropriate despite timing of the Sabbath rescue. In light of this, are we called to turn a blind eye to creeping agendas of lawlessness meant to steal, kill, and destroy our neighbors and countrymen when we have been given the power in prayer to bind and to loose? (See Matthew 18:18.)

The Bible declares that you are more than a conqueror (see Romans 8:37), even now, even when things seem to be spinning out of control. As you refuse to cast away your confidence (see Hebrews 10:35), you will find that the prayers you pray will become bolder, more targeted, and more saturated with Scripture.

It is written in two places in the Old Testament that God sought for an intercessor but found none (Isaiah 59:16, Ezekiel 22:30). Be found of Him, willing to take a stand in prayer about those things in the nation and the world that grip your heart. Then, if Jesus does return in your lifetime, He will be able to say that He did, indeed, find faith on the earth, for He found it in you.

Dorothy

However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8b

Kindness observed

Posted by Admin on Jun 2, 2014 in Everyday Observations | Comments Off on Kindness observed

My church will be launching into its annual vacation Bible school today. There will be a four-day session each week for the next two weeks for kids from teensy-tiny to eighth grade, and it will be jam-packed with amazing kid-things to do and outstanding Bible drama and worship every day.

Last year I was one of a multitude of volunteers. My job was to check kids out of their cars in the morning and help to make sure they made it to their various groups safely.

This is what I wrote about my experience at my church’s kids’ camp last year:

I just finished working with my church’s vacation Bible school this week. Now, I’m not in the state of Texas, but my church may as well be!  Almost everything it does is BIG, especially this summer outreach to kids. My job was to help direct traffic as parents dropped off their children, aiding as kids hopped out of vehicles, and directing them to “walkers”—individuals from age fifteen to eighty—who walked them to the crosswalk and then to their stations.

As I participated in this massive movement of munchkins, I was very aware of the friendliness of the volunteers serving all around me. Kind words, gentle humor, and great encouragement filled the atmosphere as hundreds—no, literally thousands—of kids said goodbye to their parents and hello to the fun-filled environment awaiting them.

And I observed parents in their cars, vans, SUVs, pickup trucks, and jeeps respond to the thoughtful smiles, waves, and well-wishes just as much as their children. I watched, in more than one case, as tension seemed to drain away from a frazzled mom when a volunteer acknowledged her with a smile and a parting word of encouragement.

And I thought, “This is how we are to operate every day.”

• Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:5-6
• Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.  Philippians 4:5

Despite the chaos swirling in the world, we can walk in confidence that our God is on the throne. And we can also know for a fact that He longs to show forth His love and stability through us as we engage more and more consistently in everyday random acts of kindness.

If your church is holding a VBS this summer—or you know of others that are—pray for those events. The adults and teens volunteering their time could use your prayers for strength, grace, stamina, and wisdom from God as they reach out to boys and girls and younger teens who may have never clearly heard the gospel before in their lives. Pray that God will prepare the hearts of these kids for an encounter with Him.

May the hand of God be upon every church campus involved this summer in presenting the gospel to our newest generation.

Dorothy

A tale of two tales, Part 5: Not alone

Posted by Admin on May 23, 2014 in "Random" Connections, Testing | Comments Off on A tale of two tales, Part 5: Not alone

…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] Hebrews 13:5b, AMP

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered… Hebrews 6:19-20a

Tuesday evening, August 5, 2003, the day after by-pass. I sat up in my hospital bed, wires and tubes attached everywhere, and watched the news. Time was blurred, and I was aware of the fact that I had completely lost a day or so, but here I was, done with surgery and ready to mend. And then something on the NBC Nightly News jolted me. “The FBI has issued a warning about bombs being smuggled into the country in briefcases, laptops, and cell phones.”

Last night! I remembered. I woke up last night after by-pass in that dark ICU room with nurses fluttering around me like ministering angels…and I heard from God…and saw what this news report is talking about!

Wee hours of the morning, Tuesday, August 5, ICU. I awoke from the sleep of death with a deep, crushing pain in my chest. I’ve been hit by a truck! I thought, and then remembered—I just had by-pass. And as I lay there, pondering, I became aware of Someone Else who had been crushed. He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5b). That Scripture became my inward fixation; I pulled as much of that chapter as I could from deep within me, repeating it to myself over and over, like a drowning woman clinging to a rope. And as the nurses ministered,  I focused on the One who was crushed for me—and an amazing transaction took place. I became aware of His intense pain that day on Calvary and felt my pain being swallowed up by His. Yes, the pain was there, but I could feel Him bearing it. And the more I mused on His battered body on that cross, bearing my pain, grief for the One who died such a brutal death flooded me. I grabbed the blonde nurse attending me. “Why couldn’t Jesus have gone to this hospital? You guys would have helped Him!”

“O-Kay….” she said. I may have been drugged, but I could tell an “are-you-ever-weird” tone of voice when I heard one. But I didn’t care in the least.

I settled back down and saw a series of three scenes. After each one, I prayed that I would remember it and repeated them all to myself to commit each one to memory. I felt they were significant.

Scene 1: I was in the lobby of a world-class hotel in a big city (I thought it might be New York). I saw a man set a briefcase on a bench under lush plants, leaving it there. “What’s that?” I asked the Lord. “It’s a bomb,” He replied. Less than 24 hours later, I heard about the same thing on NBC.

Scene 2: I was in an empty baseball stadium. I saw three men on the field by the stands who appeared to be from the middle-east. Because they were wearing dark blue baseball caps,  I had a feeling we were at Dodger stadium in LA. I asked the Lord, “Who are these men?” He replied, “They are terrorists.”

Scene 3: I was outside the administration building of my school district. I saw three people confined to wheelchairs. One was the female coordinator of Social Studies and Communication Arts, and the other two were men I didn’t recognize. I asked the Lord, “Why are they in wheelchairs?” He replied, “Because of the work load and the extreme stress they are under, they are being crippled.”

I prayed over each scene and committed to pray even more when I was clearer-headed. Later, in 2008, I ran into the coordinator in Scene 3. I shared with her what I had seen that night. As she repeated the date, August, 2003, a look of recognition and shock came over her face and the color drained out. She identified the men—her fellow coordinators—and remembered the strain and anguish of that season in their careers. “Yes, we were suffocating under the stress in the district; we wondered among ourselves how we would ever make it…you saw that?”

“Yes, and I prayed for you while I was in the ICU. The Lord cares about you three; I guess He just wants you to know how much.”

Sunday, August 3, 2003. At the Sunday night prayer meeting at church, I prayed with others about the time I would be “out” in surgery the next day. My body would be hooked to a machine to circulate my blood and breathe for me while my heart was stopped, but I—the real me—would be out there somewhere. I asked God to do whatever He wanted with me during that “time out” period—whether it was to just rest or to visit with Him or to fight devils—I was ready and available, and I trusted Him for His protection and leading.

Interpersonal attack, summer 2003. After I learned I would be needing by-pass to avoid sudden death, things seemed to ramp up in the spirit against me. I have learned that this is a favorite tactic of the devil to bring despair, defeat, and discouragement right when you need massive doses of faith, hope, and joy. But good news—I’ve also learned that the Lord is faithful to navigate you safely through it all. In a nutshell, this is what I encountered:

• My dad’s fear for my health back-lashed against me in the form of anger and harsh criticism of the way I was approaching surgery and aftercare
• My sister’s plate was already over-filled with the warzone in her own home with an irrationally-explosive, drug-abusing son (who is now doing much better)
• An acquaintance felt the need to warn me that she thought the surgery would make me worse
• A self-proclaimed prophet—a friend of a friend—told me that if I had surgery I would dishonor God by my blatant unbelief—and it would probably cost me my life
• A relationship I’d been in had disintegrated—he moved on and was starting to see other women in my circle; I was beside myself with torment, anger, and hurt
• I learned I had been the subject of false accusations and misrepresentation from outside my current circle
• I became gripped by a deep sense of aloneness in my life

I felt like I was unraveling at the seams. The heaviness of that summer before surgery was beyond any other demonic attack I had ever experienced. As I sat on my living room floor sobbing, I realized that the enemy was targeting me for stealing, killing, and destroying, and that I had to pull out the big guns against him—utter forgiveness of those who had wronged me. I made up my mind—everyone—no matter what their offense—was forgiven. I would hold nothing against them. I couldn’t afford to enter into this life-and-death procedure with even an ounce of unforgiveness in my heart.

Physical attack, summer 2003. In addition to the strange interpersonal assault I was undergoing, I experienced a couple of odd physical attacks, as well—par for the course for the devil. My elderly cat Amos had been cut while being groomed, and in early July, while his stitches were being removed, the tech clipped him and my peaceful old cat chomped down hard on the first thing he could—my thumb. He pierced it clear through with his fangs and immediately my thumb swelled to the size of a Romano tomato. After a tetanus shot and a ten-day dose of horse-pill sized antibiotics, my thumb shrank back to normal and I could proceed with giving blood to be used for any transfusion I might need. (Every drop was needed—and not a drop more.)

Then, the weekend before surgery, I was preparing for my hospital stay when suddenly the power went out. But this was no weather-related outage—something was on fire! I went to the basement and smoke was coming from behind the electric panel. I called 911, horrified at the big scene that soon landed in front of my house with trucks, lights, sirens and a parade of firemen traipsing downstairs—but the fire was quenched.

Early June, 2003. The harsh reality of what was ahead of me enshrouded me. I sat at my kitchen table, dropped my head, and prayed, “God, I have no husband. Would You be my Husband and find me a good doctor?” He did. I discovered later that the cardiac surgeon I used was ranked second best in the world for cardiac anomalies, the best coming from Japan. A Saudi prince had even flown here to go under the knife of this highly-specialized surgeon.

Late May, 2003. My allergy/anti-anxiety pill prescribing doctor was humoring me. He sent me down to have a stress test, flippantly announcing they would find nothing—but if, in the slim chance they did, I would then undergo an angiogram. I had a feeling I’d be having that procedure.

My sister was swamped at work; my dad lived four hours away; my best friend had a full work load; no one was free to wait with me as I prepared for the agonizingly unknown. Heaviness draped over me like a dull, leaden blanket. I was alone.

The techs attached wires to key points on my body, prepping me for the stress test. A nurse explained the procedure and then abruptly stopped. “Dor? Frick?” She peered into my face. Only high school, camp, and college friends called me that.

I looked at her and she said, “Dor! It’s me! Susie!”

And there she was, standing beside me, straight and strong, smiling and fussing over me with medical professionalism and the connected-depth of shared, conquered trauma.

As I started the test, she told me that she had become fascinated with nursing while in the hospital with her broken back; she married her camp sweetheart; they had kids; and they attended church.

Not too long into the procedure, it became clear that my heart was not functioning properly. She stopped me, got me prepped for cardiac cath, and as we waited, the girl who once-upon-a-time thought she didn’t need God held my hand and prayed for me. The girl who long ago vomited into my hands ministered life and help to me. The girl with whom I once waited at the foot of her cliff now waited with me at the foot of my own cliff.

And God had not left me alone.

A tale of two tales, Part 4: Is it unknown or scary? God can turn it

Posted by Admin on May 22, 2014 in "Random" Connections, Testing | Comments Off on A tale of two tales, Part 4: Is it unknown or scary? God can turn it

And so tale one closed with Susie knowing the essential fact that she needed God. Tale two culminated twenty-seven years later, in 2003. I will be breaking tale two into two parts: the physical part first, and the spiritual, emotional warfare waged against me in the second part. And throughout that entire season of my life—at first very unknown and very scary—God was working it all together for my good, both in the physical aspect and in the spiritual realm.

Way before 2003 when I was 48, I had a sense that something wasn’t right with my heart. It started in my early thirties. I remember teaching away, in my last class of fourth graders, when wham! I was hit in the chest with gripping pains. I’d hold onto my desk as I stood in front of the kids, quietly praying and trusting God for help. Then as quickly as it would start, it stopped.

Several times over the next ten to fifteen years the same thing would randomly happen. Finally, in my mid-forties, I’d had enough. I went to the doctor.

After a history of my family and health—no heart problems on either side of the family, I didn’t smoke or drink, I was underweight (at the time!), and I was the picture of health—the doctor prescribed allergy meds. No heart check. Just pills.

Well, those pills did help; my eyes weren’t as itchy as they had been, but chest pain still randomly struck.

I returned to the doc again. This time he prescribed anti-anxiety medication. I was secretly outraged, but I didn’t know how to “fight city hall”. Believe me, I’m learning to advocate for myself.

I had a very active lifestyle, but in my early forties, I noticed I was losing steam. It got more intense; I was exhausted with little exertion, but since the chest pains were so infrequent, I thought I was just out of shape. I would try to keep up and did to a point, but would experience long seasons of utter fatigue.

But the whole time, I had that niggling thought in the back of my mind: Get your heart checked.

God is so good! He knows how to take all the garbage the devil throws our way and then He remolds it into amazing deliverance and help. How He does it, I have no clue—but that’s why He’s God and I’m not. And am I ever glad of that!

I am a coffee drinker. I drink lots of it. Used to drink even more—the strong stuff—often espresso drinks. I love my mochas! But, as with many women, caffeine can aggravate the tissue in your breasts. It doesn’t cause cancer, but it can trigger fibroid cysts.

In 2003, I found a humongous, painful lump in my right breast. It was different than any I had ever found. I went to the doctor (a different one) who had known my history of cysts, and he was very concerned following the barrage of mammograms and ultra-sounds. Things didn’t look good; this could be a cyst, but chances were, it might be disguising something more malignant. I needed surgery.

My dad came to town to take me to the hospital; he was at my home that night before the planned lumpectomy. But I was an eighth grade teacher with a full schedule, and had to make four days of detailed lesson plans. I was at work till very late, only to greet my dad briefly when I got home, and then get ready for bed—and surgery in the morning.

Dad was in the guest room asleep as I sat on the edge of my bed around 11:30 or 12. And then, WHAM! I was kicked in the left side of my chest by a mule! I clutched my heart, prayed, bound the devil in Jesus’ name, pled the blood of Jesus, and commanded the pain to cease.

God, what do I do? Do I go to the hospital and then call the hospital in the morning and say I can’t go to the hospital—I’m in the hospital? What should I do?!?

The pain slowly faded and peace came upon me. I would sleep and trust God—and in the morning tell the doctor what happened.

The next morning, after telling my dad about the incident, I told the nurses at the hospital, “I don’t want to be impolite and die on the operating table, so I must tell you, I had kicking chest pains last night.”

A cardiologist was called in, and finally I had my first EKG. And sure enough, it showed that my ticker wasn’t quite right. I told that doctor! I thought, feeling vindicated and not in the least concerned—I knew that God was now taking care of the situation.

I went through the surgery—instead of a gargantuan tumor, they found of cluster of seventeen cysts all twisted together—and removed them, and I was good to go. And I had a quest to pursue—find out about my heart.

Through a flood of tests and procedures and a very frightening angiogram (also known as a cardiac cath) in which the cardiologist could not find one of my coronaries and was cursing under his breath and jamming the scope and storming away only to return and jam again—I prayed, God, either help him now to find it or make him quit. No one’s puncturing my arteries!

He quit. I was glad. And in a far more peaceful environment a week later, in a different test, they found the problem. My right coronary artery was attached to the left side of my heart and wound between my aorta (the candy cane-shaped part) and my pulmonary artery, blocking the flow of blood to the right side of my heart when my heart-rate increased—whether through exercise, stress, anger—whatever.

However, here’s the interesting thing: The only known symptom of my condition is not chest pain—it’s sudden death.

A year after heart surgery—by-pass—I was still experiencing exhaustion and random chest pain. Finally in 2007, I went to an allergist and discovered the cause. I had asthma. And then in 2009, my contractor discovered the mold that had been brewing in the house due to previously-addressed plumbing issues, and now, after removing all the mold, and two great allergists (one human and the other, Almighty), my health is getting better and better all the time.

Here’s the deal:

1. Mold in my house aggravated the unknown condition of asthma.
2. Asthma slowed me down enough to keep my heart from going into overload. (Sudden death typically happens due to a wrongly-routed coronary in the forties. Before that age, there’s usually more room for expansion between the vessels through which the smaller artery runs.)
3. Because of random chest pains (due to asthma), I prayed frequently over my heart for its health and longevity.
4. Because of my love of coffee, I was a cyst factory, which “coincidentally” landed me in the hospital for surgery where someone would finally listen to me and order an EKG the morning after I experienced the granddaddy of all asthma-induced chest pains.

Romans 8:28 states very clearly, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

God can take the worst that the devil devises against you and turn it around for your good. God’s not behind giving someone a house full of mold or asthma or chest pains or cysts, but He knows how to take the raw material of an attack from the devil and rewire and reroute it into your victory and for your good.

If you are dealing with the unknown or the scary, rest assured: God will cause it all to work together for your good because you love Him and you are called according to His purpose. Stand on that truth, and let it be the pillow on which you lay your head at night. You are loved by the Lover of your soul, and He will be your strength, your help, and your deliverer. Amen.

Dorothy

Tomorrow: Not alone