To Whom Do You Cry Out for Help?

March 9, 2025
 
Reflections from the Heart of Allan Redenius
Let me tell you about my recent near-death experience.
 
We've all used the phrase at some point in our life, when experiencing some sort of pain, “I think I'm going to die.”  Or, we might say something like, “I think it's the big one, Elizabeth!”  Those expressions, I no longer take lightly.  
 
While getting ready for dinner a couple of weeks ago, I really did think it was the big one and that I really was going to die.  Suddenly, without warning, it felt like my lung was being pulled out of my chest through a keyhole.  After Armona took my blood pressure, and seeing that it was through the roof, she said, “I'm taking you to the hospital right now!”  Of course, macho me, said, “I don't need to go to the hospital.  This will go away.”  She was insistent, packed me in the car, and raced to the hospital.  Thank you Armona, for saving my life!  (Maybe she would have driven slower if I had a big life insurance policy 😊)
 
What I did not realize at the time was that I was experiencing a pulmonary embolism.  If you don't know, that is a blood clot in your lung which oftentimes lodges in your heart, causing death.  After my emergency care and, at my internist for a follow up, she said to me, “Do you know how fortunate you are to be alive?”  Indeed, I am blessed to share this experience.
 
As the first wave of pain came on, my first cry for help was not to Armona, but to my Lord.  It went something like this.  “Help me Jesus!”  Like pulling your hand off a hot stove, crying out to Jesus was not something I had to think about, it was automatic.
 
This near-death experience causes me to wonder, to whom do people cry out for help who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior?  I am now more acutely aware that you can die in a nanosecond.  For some, there is no time to cry out for help.  One moment alive here on earth, the next, standing before the Lord in judgment. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”  (Hebrews 9:27)  If you haven't cried out to Jesus during life for Him to help you and save you, it will be too late for you to cry out after you're dead.
 
Just giving you a little advice to live by…eternal life is Jesus’ gift to you!
Pastor Allan
 
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