Hi Sister Ginnyrose...
That is a very interesting set of thoughts!
I have always thought that an illness or an ailment can be a blessing in disguise. Often, death comes unexpected. Whether it is a sudden stroke, an act of violence, an accident, or even an airplane flying into your building -- some people meet their maker unexpectantly.
This is not true for those who are "diagnosed" with an illness. Cancer can be a horrible diagnosis with a long struggle for those who face chemotherapy. At the same time, it provides an unexpected gift to those who suffer. They have time to face their own mortality.
Whether they have a few weeks or months (or years) to live, they have the opportunity to "make things right." The same is true for those who survive other ailments (like heart attacks).
When I was a teenager, the part-time janitor of our Church facilities, Jerry, was diagnosed with cancer. He had been feeling pain for a few weeks and finally went to the hospital for a check up in early December. They diagnosed him with cancer that had spread throughout his body...and he immediately began an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the effects of the chemotherapy took its toll. This janitor passed away on the morning of February 2nd.
I remember attending the funeral and seeing the hurt on the faces of his wife, four children and the rest of his family. This death came quite suddenly -- about two months after his diagnosis. The funeral was well-attended by his family members, co-workers and the church congregation.
At one point in the funeral, the pastor allowed people to share some of their memories and thoughts of Brother Jerry. As people tend to do in funerals, people stood up and talked about the good ol' days. They spoke about his virtues and fact that he was a "plain spoken man" who loved his family. Everyone seemed to share "good" things.
However, one older man who worked with Jerry eventually stood up. He was a coworker and said that he and Jerry had not gotten along for a long period of time. It seems that Jerry had somehow wronged this man many years ago. However, following his diagnosis, Jerry called this man and "made things right." After this man, another man got up and said the same thing. After him, another did the same.
Eventually, a handful of men stood up and made statements about how Jerry had contacted them following his diagnosis in order to apologize for some wrong. Regardless of whether he stole from someone years ago or had lied to them a few months earlier, Jerry attempted to make amends for his wrongs.
I think that this was showing "fruit unto repentance." As awkward as it may have seemed at a funeral, I thought that it was a blessing. You see, Jerry was a man of character. He didn't want to face God with dirty hands. His struggle with cancer actually gave him the impudence to approach people that he had wronged and offer a very humble, heartfelt apology. In this sense, the physical ailment led to death -- but it worked for something eternally good.
Last night, I prayed for Steve. As I lay down to sleep, I was thinking about all of this.
This morning, I woke up quite early. I have a difficult time sleeping with any light and I tend to wake up with the first ray of daylight. When early morning sunlight pierced through the curtains, I was up. Oddly enough, waking up a bit early made me think about something.
Human beings are born with something called a Circadian Rhythm. It is sometimes referred to as a "biological clock." In plants, it is the response that makes plants open their flowers in the morning. In humans, it is a biological mechanism that sets the body upon a 24 hour cycle. It is what makes the human body tired enough to go to sleep, digest food at night, have daily bowel movements, and become mentally alert in the morning (amongst other things). It is also what causes "jet lag" -- due to a disruption in the length of the body's biological "day."
For years, it was thought that this biological clock was somehow tied to the environment of the Earth. The Earth rotates in 24 hours...producing one day. Thus, our biological clocks would be assumed to be naturally tied to a physical day on Earth. However, scientists realized over the past decade that this just isn't the case.
It seems that "light" is the trigger for resetting the biological clock. About a decade ago, scientists were testing what they thought was an old wive's tale about shining a bright light behind the elbow or knee as a means to reset the biological clock. They were fully prepared to discount what they thought to be a silly and absurd claim. However, they were stunned to learn that this actually worked.
A bright "light" was able to reset the biological clock in human beings -- even in the middle of the night!
Subsequent further studies revealed that "light" seems to be the catalyst for starting a person's circadian rhythm. Scientists found that a direct, bright light from above (resembling bright daylight) was found to be the most effective method to reset that biological clock. It "wakes" a person's body, controls the release of melatonin, adjusts the body's temperature and controls the plasma level of cortisol.
In other words, light brings about a "new" day for the body. I was thinking about this in regard to Krispy's confession.
Jesus is the light of the world. In fact, He is called the light of men. The Word of God says, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:4-5). In fact, Jesus gives "light to all men" (John 1:9). Later on, Jesus said, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him" (John 11:9-10).
Jesus is the light that resets our SPIRITUAL clocks. When He shines, darkness must flee. The Word of God also talks about "bringing to light" even secret things (Ecclesiastes 12:14).
In this sense, God has used a heart attack to bring Krispy (Steve) to the light of life. Krispy's confession has revealed this to us...but it is only because God used that heart attack to shed light upon this situation to him. This is an opportunity to have his inner spiritual clock reset. It is a new beginning.
The best thing? Affliction makes us remember our failures and rely upon God's mercies -- and those mercies are a lot like that circadian rhythm/biological clock. They are NEW EVERY MORNING (Lamentations 3:19-23).
I am praying for brother Steve. He has a heart after God. I am confident that this new "reset" will cause him to strive to walk in the light in all things and remember the steadfast mercies and the great faithfulness of the Lord. Because of this, we are able to say "thank God" for a heart attack! What a wonderful God we serve!
