The Third Shock

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it” (Psalm 139:6, ESV).

I was visiting with Ron about his recent heart attack. He described a vivid recollection of his cardiac resuscitation. Apparently he had to be shocked three times in order to bring back his cardiac rhythm. He told me with emotion, “Man! The third time I didn’t even need it. I was wide-awake and, wow! It hurt!”

Have you ever looked up to heaven and said to God, “Man! I really didn't need that.”
You’d been getting through your workday just fine, seen your last patient, and then, as you have exactly the time you need to make it to your daughter’s recital, the 3 o'clock patient shows up at 5.
Or you're just about to pay off your house and start saving for retirement when your roof starts leaking, everywhere.
Or you are leaving on a great vacation that your spouse really deserves and your nursing home father falls and breaks his leg.
We live in a world where life is often interrupted and each time we face such interruptions, we are shocked. “Man! I really didn’t need that.”
I'm sure that Ron was convinced he did not need that third electric shock. But the physician who was watching the rhythm strip knew something different.
Thank God He's got His eye on my life in ways that I cannot see or understand. Thank God He interrupts my life with events I feel I do not need. Thank God He is there in the events of my life, whether He causes them or with great love fixes them, all for my good and for His glory.
“God! I needed that.”

Dear God,
Keep watching. Keep shocking.
Amen