David in the ER

Sacramento, California
11 October 2008

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day. John wanted to go to the hospital to get his heart checked and so I accompanied him. After a slew of tests and four hours, we’re both glad that it’s not his heart that’s giving him problems. However the other event that happened at the hospital was the one that really wrenched my heart in many ways.

We could hear a blow by blow account of what was happening in the next cubicle. The lady lying there was complaining of severe headache and the nurses were trying to help her. As the hours ticked by, we realized that the situation was probably more serious than we thought.

The lady’s name is Mary and she had a brain aneurysm. The doctor explained to her husband that there was nothing medically that they could do for her except to keep her comfortable. That was another way of saying that she wasn’t going to make it. I heard the pain in the husband’s voice. I couldn’t imagine what must have been going through his head and heart.

I sat there beside John and just felt that I could not leave this hospital hearing and feeling that situation and not doing anything about it. My heart wrenched in a thousand directions. While we had a good report, the couple next to us weren’t so blessed.

Without too much thought, I decided that I was going to talk to the husband and pray for his wife. So I sneaked over and introduced myself, explaining that I had been next door and couldn’t help overhearing what was going on. I looked at the man’s eyes and my heart broke. There was so much pain. I asked if I could pray for his wife and he said yes, even though he wasn’t “a very religious man”. I said that’s ok, it doesn’t matter. I will still pray for her.

It was then that I asked his name. “David”, he said, and for a moment I stared in his desperate eyes and didn’t know what to say. David? I thought, that was exactly what I was reading about. Leap over the wall by Eugene Peterson, about the life of David. About being Christian in the midst of the craziness of life. About loving God in the midst of pain, hatred and death. David?

The story of David in the ER was that Mary was his second wife. He’s 75, while she’s 49. They’ve been married 27 years and have no children of their own. There was a deep sense of regret and fear in his words and eyes as he stood beside his dying wife. I felt like hugging him.

As I continued to chat with David, the Holy Spirit was just filling my heart with compassion for him. I had to do something. I must. I began thinking about what I could possibly leave with him. Holy Spirit said, he must not leave without hope.

The only things I had with me were my Bible and the book. I wasn’t sure which to give him. But as I made my way towards my bag, I just knew I should give him “Leap over a wall”. I pulled it out and just then, I heard the sound of the bed being pushed away. I ran after David and told him that I wanted him to have the book. With tears glistening in his eyes, he held my arm and said, “you’re a rare person” and hobbled off anxiously after his wife.

I hope that Mary gets well. I pray that God will heal her. But more importantly, I hope she will always know that she’s loved, both by God and her husband. As for David, I pray that he will find God somehow, somewhere through this situation.

Mary – the sinful woman in the Bible who worshipped Jesus extravagantly. David – the sinful man who worshipped God extravagantly. They were both in the ER that day. More importantly, I believe that what the enemy intended for evil, God meant it for good.

This was such a powerful and profound moment for me. I’m just glad I was able to be part of God’s plan and to have been there to experience the love of God for Mary and David.