Psalm 23:2 "He makes me lie down"
I am writing this post from my hospital bed at St. Luke’s in Houston, Texas. For three weeks I had some tenderness in my upper calf and thought it could be a blood clot. After experiencing pain in my back, ribs, and right chest I went to get checked out by the doctor. All my vitals were clear, I had no risk factors, and did not “look or act like someone with a PE (Pulmonary Embolism) so we ruled it out. While watching American Idol I began experiencing intense pain in the right side of my chest that lasted 3 hours with numerous periods of “take your breath away pain” that certainly was not normal. After speaking with my Doctor we decided to do a CAT Scan where I learned I had a PE with infarction or tissue death. At this point all my plans were cancelled, I was put on a blood thinner, and transported to the hospital by ambulance. For the last two days I think I have used every piece of capital equipment in the hospital and have given enough blood to save a couple lives in the E.R. The end result is two clots in my leg and two PE’s in my right lung. I am still waiting for test results to determine the longer term treatment plan, but appears that I missed a bullet.
If there were any doubt of the risk, the definition of PE in the literature provided by the hospital concludes with “It’s extremely serious with a high potential for death”. I have been training for an Ironman race in a couple months and continued swimming, biking and running through all these events chalking most of the symptoms up to age and minor injuries to work through. My sister highlighted a much often needed reminder in the Psalms 23:2 “He makes me lie down…” Sometimes the activities of our lives take over and God needs to step in and make us lie down. This is not the first or second time that God has made me lie down when there are places to go, things to do, and people to meet. I had to cancel meetings with people that had flown in from Ohio, I am a few weeks from my peak training for my triathlon, and we are in the midst of the first quarter of getting the business year off to a good start. And God makes me lie down, He takes me to a quiet hospital room, and He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. As I sit and write I praise God for making me lie down and thankful and challenged to be in a quiet place to restore my soul so I can be used for His purposes and His name’s sake. As leaders of your family I hope this experience will inspire you to carve out some quiet time, lower the volume, and trust that God will care for your needs.
Psalm 23:2-3 “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
