My husband’s cardiologist walked into the heart imaging waiting area located on the 1^st floor of our local hospital. I noticed right away the forced smile on his face, belying the worried look in his eyes. This was not good.

My husband had gone in that morning for a heart catheterization due to something “suspicious” the doctor saw on a routine stress test. The fact that the stress test had been abnormal surprised both of us. You see, my husband is an athlete. He started swimming as a kid, did exceptionally well in high school, and even received a scholarship to college. He still swam at our local pool several times a week to stay fit and biked, ran, and lifted weights regularly. He’d even participated in several triathlons during the first few years of our marriage. There was never a day he didn’t do some form of exercise. My husband was a fit competitive athlete and had never been overweight.

The cardiologist happened to be a friend of my husband’s from high school and had been on his high school swim team. Entering the waiting room, Dr G. walked over to me and said, “Beth, can you come with me? I need to show you the results.” I still couldn’t imagine there would be anything seriously wrong with my husband. We’d been blessed with good health and smooth sailing thus far in our lives and I had no expectation of anything else.

We sat down in front of the computer in the cramped, closet-like office space and looked at the image of my husband’s heart on the screen in front of us. Dr G. proceeded to show me numerous blockages, some quite significant. As he talked, I felt like my mind left my body. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. His voice faded away and began to sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher—wah–wah, wah–wah–wah. I thought to myself, he can’tbe talking about Eric. But he was.

We headed into the recovery room to tell my unsuspecting husband he’d need heart surgery—a triple bypass to address four blockages. He was still a little loopy so I don’t think it hit him immediately. Later, he exhibited the same shock I’d felt when I first heard the news.

Dr. G. sent us immediately to the heart surgeon to schedule bypass surgery. “Go straight there, do not pass go, do not collect $200”, he said. The surgery was scheduled for 3 weeks later.

In the days leading up to the surgery, Eric and I went to our knees repeatedly asking for the Lord’s favor and mercy for Eric and for our family. We had three children in their teens at that time who still needed their father to stick around. I can honestly say, God gave us the most amazing sense of peace. We knew that God held Eric in His hands and loved him with an everlasting and unfailing love. We knew that God is ultimately in control of what happens in our lives and that worry is fruitless. In fact, worrying shows a lack of faith in our omnipotent God creator.

I realized I had been prepared for this. I’d been raised in a Christian home by parents whose faith rarely wavered—parents who didn’t fall apart when things got tough but trusted God and His plan. Eric had strong faith, as well, but occasionally let fear creep in (understandable since he was the one who would have his chest cracked open on the operating table). All-in-all though, we trusted God with the situation and moved forward with a sense of hope and peace. We saw it as a blessing that these blockages were found and were being addressed before Eric had a potentially fatal heart attack.

The beauty of being in the family of God is the love and support that come with it. On the day of Eric’s surgery, people flooded the waiting room to pray with me and speak words of encouragement and support. Eric’s dad had come from out of town and for weeks afterwards he talked about the amount of “church people” who came to pray and sit with me. It spoke volumes to him.

The surgery went fine and when Eric was settled in cardiac intensive care, we went back to see him. As I arrived at his bedside, he abruptly pulled me down close to him and whispered, “Beth, they don’t know what they’re doing! Help me!” Of course, the nurses were fully capable, and he was hallucinating (still under the influence of anesthesia), but it was a funny moment. One poignant thing that happened in the cardiac intensive care unit involved Eric’s dad. As he looked at his son lying there so fragile and vulnerable, he said, with tears in his eyes, “Eric, if I could change places with you I would do it.” We all knew he meant it with every fiber of his being.

Eric eventually left the hospital and began his recovery at home with me as his primary nurse (too bad for him because that is definitely not my calling). I actually enjoyed having him home and liked this new slower-paced routine. Typically, my husband works hard, never sits still, and prefers to be busy, busy, busy. We had lots of time to talk as we walked to the front door and back, then to the first tree, then to the end of the driveway and finally, down the street. Eric got stronger and stronger as we prayed for his complete recovery and continued his rehab.

I’d often look at him and say, “I can’t believe you had triple by-pass surgery.” He felt the same. It was surreal to us. He’d been only 52 years old. As we began to talk to some of his family and ask questions we found out that unbeknownst to us, there were family members with heart issues on his mom’s side. Eric also had to take a hard look at his diet which was not great. He pretty much ate whatever he wanted because the extreme amount of exercise he did kept his weight in check, fooling him into thinking he was healthy. There is a critical lesson there. Just because you exercise a lot and may not be overweight, you could still have coronary artery disease, as my husband did.

There’s nothing that happens in our lives that is a surprise to God. Everything in a believer’s life has a purpose and God will use it to His glory. God will never leave us in our time of need. He’s always with us. When unbelievers watch Christians navigate tough things with peace and confidence, it impacts them. God is glorified when we exhibit faith and trust in Him.

If you don’t understand this kind of peace, you can. All it requires is giving your life to Christ, turning to Him in repentance, and trusting him as your Savior and Lord. Once you do so, He is yours forever. The God of the universe will be your sword, shield, and strong tower. You can confidently place your trust in Him no matter what the future holds.

I hope you will not have to experience a health crisis like we did, but if you’re a believer, know that God will be by your side giving you the strength you need.

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10 (NASB)

“God is our refuge and strength, a very ready help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth shakes and the mountains slip into the heart of the sea. . .”

Psalm 46:1-2 (NASB)