“Peace” oil on canvas by Olga Bekirov
Collapsing in a whirling swirl of vertigo, I crumpled to my knees and clung to the seat of my desk chair. I was unable to coordinate my body to move. Just a few minutes prior I had gotten out of bed and walked to my study. Bending over my desk, I was suddenly struck down. I knew I was having a stroke. I repeatedly called, “Jesus, have mercy on me!” I couldn’t even scoot the chair to the phone a few feet away. The overwhelming vertigo made me shut my eyes. I yelled to my wife who was sleeping in our bedroom down the hall. She came, and I told her to call 911. It was about 6 AM on President’s Day 2018. Surprising even to me as a doctor, my mind wasn’t racing into the future and worried about my being disabled or even dying from this stroke, though I knew these complications could occur. Usually, my emotions are near the surface and are expressly evident. However, I wasn’t panicked or screaming. Though this doesn’t make sense, even though I was physically helpless, amazing peace pervaded me. Without worries about the outcome or the future, I felt secure in the grace of God.
The grace of God.
Amazing Grace.
My wife Millé called 911 immediately. That morning the roads were icy, and it took the aid car about ten minutes to get to our house. Initially the first responders were not sure I was having a stroke, as I could speak clearly. But I couldn’t move, and they had to carry me downstairs to the aid car. They drove me to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett with the siren sounding and lights flashing. At least I presume the lights were flashing. I had my eyes closed due to vertigo most of the way.
In the Emergency Room, a chaplain full of faith prayed for me to be completely healed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The doctor, to rule out a hemorrhagic stroke (bleed on the brain), ordered a head CT scan which turned out normal. Ischemic strokes due to a blood clot do not show up on a head CT scan for at least 24 hours. As I was on the gurney in the hospital hallway being wheeled back from the CT scan to the ER, the neurologist was walking next to me and told the nurse there to give me the TPA (tissue plasminogen activator–or clot buster). He believed my stroke self-diagnosis after I had described my symptoms and ordered this intravenous medication which was given me in the hallway of the hospital enroute back to the ER. By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, I received this crucial medicine about one hour after the stroke onset. For it to work at all, it must be given within 4.5 hours, preferably within 3.
I was admitted to the Neurosurgical ICU, where they did a brain MRI which showed a large cerebellar stroke. The cerebellum is the coordination center at the back and base of the brain. God graciously gave me a Christian nurse who had only one other ICU patient. She was my nurse the entire time I was in the hospital. A few hours after the stroke, I could focus my vision and move my arms and hands. However, when the nurse tried to get me to stand, I could not do so even with her support. We began physical therapy. The next day I could and did stand up and walk to the bathroom. The physical therapist walked beside me as I walked the halls with improving gait. The next day I walked up and down stairs. The doctor offered me to go home that day but advised me to stay one more day to be sure there was no further neurological impairment from a subsequent stroke. The following day I walked out of the ICU to our Christian friend’s car who had graciously come to drive me home.
The Lord Jesus orchestrated the entire treatment sequence for me. First, He let it happen early in the morning before the ER got busy. He had the first responders get me to the ER within about 30 minutes of the stroke onset. The Lord gave me the right neurologist who rapidly diagnosed my stroke without visual evidence and without localizing signs on physical exam except my extreme un-coordination. The Lord moved this doctor to have the ER nurse give me the TPA about one hour after stroke onset to assure its efficacy in the narrow time window. The Lord provided not only Millé and the chaplain to pray for me, but my Christian family members and friends along with our church family prayed for my healing. The Lord heard and answered in His merciful and masterful manner.
The only residual symptom I had after the stroke was very mild gait and stance instability. By God’s grace again, I got an outstanding Physical Therapist to help me improve my balance. After a couple months of weekly visits, my balance was nearly back to normal.
As a doctor, I have tried to practice what I preach as to physical exercise. That is, I try to at least walk or do some other aerobic exercise for about 30 minutes daily. When I walk, I walk on the curb of the sidewalk (when there is no risk of falling into the street with traffic present) occasionally to keep my balance. I thank God for His grace to me in healing me from what could have been the end of my useful life on earth
It’s quite possible, dear reader, that at this point you may be thinking, “Sure, this guy lives a hardship-free life. It doesn’t work that way for me…” And you are right, we all have different challenges in life. I may not have the problems you face: perhaps a drug addiction, alcoholism, a terrible childhood, followed by a failed marriage or two. Everyone has different experiences, but God’s love for you is the same as for everyone:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him (John 3:16,17).
God has made it very simple for you to become His child and have eternal life. It is easy for us to become His children, but it cost God His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. This is how the apostle Paul wrote it:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of who remain until now, but some have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
Our sins are the problem. Our basic sin is unbelief in Jesus Christ, God’s Son. “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Every time I break the speed limit, I am being lawless. God’s standard is perfection. Only one person has ever lived the perfect life: Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Sin is not only the wrongful things we have done, but also the things we have not done that we could and should have done. In addition, we have all inherited iniquities from our parents.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear (Isaiah 59:2).
How can you be forgiven of your sins and be saved from the penalty of them, which is death? Not only is the destiny of the unbeliever to die, but it is eternal separation from God. There is a hell, the lake of fire, prepared for the devil and those who follow him. The devil doesn’t care if you don’t believe in him (the devil), but he tries everything he can to prevent you from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
For it is by believing in Jesus Christ that you receive Him and become a child of God.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).
How do you actually receive Christ and become saved from your sins? The Bible says
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Romans 10:9 emphasis added).
If you pray vocally words to God like the simple prayer below, believing in your heart that God indeed raised Jesus from the dead, you will become a child of God. I strongly encourage you to speak this out vocally, as I did each of these three times above when I was desperate for His grace and cried out to Him. Make the declaration out loud, as the scripture above says. This makes it a reality, a decision, and not just a mental thought:
“Dear God, I have sinned against You and others and myself. I ask You to forgive me of my sins for Jesus Christ’s sake. I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus from the dead. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to come into my life and save me. I receive You now by faith in Your name. Thank You for all You have done for me. Help me follow You forever. Amen.”
If you cried out to Jesus like this and believed in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you are a new person in Christ. He has answered your prayer. You have received Christ and with Him His grace.
For of His fulness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1: 16 NIV).
Tom’s testimony of being healed from a stroke by the Lord Jesus Christ is taken from his book Gracious Goodness! It is available at the Sonrise Book store and at Amazon. Tom would welcome your feedback. You can email him at tomgiesecke@comcast.net.
Tom Giesecke (Sonrise Magazine Editor) Author. Grew up in Olympia, WA, where he received Christ at age 15. He graduated from Davidson College, NC, and Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. After his medical internship at the National Naval Medical Center Bethesda, MD, he trained and served as a U.S. Navy Flight Surgeon for four years. Following residency training, he served thousands of people as a Board-certified Family Physician for more than thirty-five years. Learning of God’s love motivates Tom to daily search the Scriptures for more. Tom has led Bible studies for many years and enjoys sharing “the word of God, and recently publishing a book (find in the Sonrise Bookstore and Amazon) on the grace of God: Gracious Goodness.” Reach Tom at tomgiesecke@comcast.net
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