God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

When I worked in several intensive care units in the Denver Colorado area as a “float” nurse,  I was privileged to work with many fabulous doctors. It wasn’t until much much later in my life that I learned one of the cardiologists I worked with, became a strong man of God and wrote a book called Healing Prayer On Holy Ground. His name is Dr. Mark Sheehan. His book captured my attention because Dr. Sheehan chroniced his patients near death experinces. I too, witnessed a patient who had a near death experience so I was eager to read Dr. Sheehans book. ( I will discuss my patient’s story in a later post.)

Being a cardiologist or “heart doctor” for the non-medical readers out there, Dr. Sheehan, saw many hearts stop beating and patients clinically dead right before his very eyes. This required him to restart many hearts with defibrillation. Dr. Sheehan became quite experienced around near death scenarios over the years due to the nature of his job.  What shocked me while reading his book was that he reported not only the blissful near death experience of Christians, he also reported the absolute opposite, the near death experience of people who ignored God’s ways and did what they wanted with their lives. People begging to come back to earth to get their lives back on track with God.  I think his story is worth retelling and I hope, if you are not a Christian, that somehow reading this post will have you rethink your choice.

This is Dr. Sheehan’s story:

Steve was a 49 year old married white male with a history of heart disease and heart attacks.  He had bypass surgery and blocked arteries in his legs. I was on-call and although this patient was not mine, I ran into Steve’s room when he cardiac arrested and assumed the lead role of the resuscitation team.  I charged up the paddles and delivered an electrical shock to Steve’s heart, and the heart rhythm returned to normal.  Immediately Steve looked up at me in horror and panic and pointed at my right-hand side and then pointing to the sky he cried, “I’m not going up there!”  I asked what he meant.  Steve said that Jesus was standing next to me and Jesus wouldn’t take him. I asked what religious background Steve was and he told me that he was raised a Southern Baptist but since adulthood, was inactive in his faith.  I then asked Steve to pray the prayer of salvation, “I repent of my sins and I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.”  Then I told Steve that he needed to follow God’s teachings and  God’s plan for his life.  (Pg 60-61 Healing Prayer on Holy Ground by Dr. Mark Sheehan with Chris Sheehan) 

Dr. Sheehan also shared an experience of Dr. Rawlings that echoes some of the lessons from Steve’s story.

Dr. Rawlings had a patient who had cardiac arrested and dropped dead right in his office.  He and his staff used heart compressions and mouth to mouth breathing techniques to try to revive him while the doctor attempted to insert a pacemaker.  Here is the account from the best selling book Beyond Deaths Door:

Each time he regained a heartbeat and respiration, the patient screamed, “I’m in hell!” He was terrified and pleaded with me to help him…He then issued a very strange plea, “Don’t stop!”  

You see, the first thing most patients I resuscitate tell me as soon as they recover consciousness is “Take your hands of my chest you’re hurting me!”…but this patient was telling me “Don’t stop!” Then I noticed a genuinely alarmed look on his face.  He had a terrified look worse than the expression seen in death!  This patient had a grotesque grimace expressing sheer horror.  His pupils were dilated, and he was perspiring and trembling…Then still another strange thing happened.  He said “Don’t you understand? I am in hell.  Each time you quit I go back to hell.  Don’t let me go back to hell!”…after several death episodes he finally asked me, “How do I stay out of hell?”  I told him I guessed it was the same principle learned in Sunday school-that I guessed Jesus Christ would be the one whom you would ask to save you.  Then he said “I don’t know how to pray, pray for me!”…I knew I had no choice, it was a dying mans request. So I had him repeat the words after me as we worked right there on the floor (reviving him)…Lord Jesus, I ask you to keep me out of hell. Forgive my sins.  I turn my life over to you.  If I die, I want to go to heaven.  If I live I will be on “the hook” forever.

The excerpt from this book goes on to say that the cardiologist, Dr. Rawlings, went home, dusted off his Bible and started reading.  He realized that the Bible was not merely a history book, but every word was turning out to be true.  Dr. Rawlings decided that day, that he would start to read the Bible very closely and he became a committed Christian.

Again, if you were on the fence before reading this post, as to the reality of hell, I sure hope that these stories have proven to you that it does matter to God how we live.  It does matter to God if we accept Him as our personal Savior.  And it does matter to God if we accept His plan for our lives.

Lastly, I would like to recount what is written on page 71 and 102 of Dr. Sheehan’s book:

Pain can be thought of as the megaphone of God.  It is one of His means of amplifying lessons we often are too self-sufficient to heed.  What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.  Self-sufficiency is valued by the world but a dependent humility is what God prefers.

Let’s all encourage each other to go to a Bible based church, to read the best book that was ever written, and to live as it  instructs.  Only then will we find true peace within our hearts and joy in all circumstances.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope to see you in heaven one day!

Lisa

God’s Promise:

If you declare with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NIV)

Music For Your Soul:

“One Step Away” by Casting Crowns.