When God Provides a Wake Up Call

Be careful what you pray for!  Last Monday was my Sabbath – my day off after a long run through Holy Week.  I was pretty tired, so much so that I journaled to God that I didn’t even know what I needed that day…I was too tired to even think.  So, I asked God to give me whatever I needed.  God answered that prayer in a big way…He blessed me with a monster wake-up call.

I had a scheduled check-up with my doctor that day.  I’m on blood pressure meds and I had gone months without checking my BP.  I knew I had gained weight and I figured my BP was going to be high.  To be honest, the only reason I actually scheduled the appointment in the first place was that I had run out of refills on my meds.  We discovered that my BP was ridiculously high – 171/100 (should be 120/80).  My doctor was very alarmed.  I weighed in at a hefty 304, the heaviest I’ve been in ten years.  Well, to make a long story less tedious, I ended up in the ER.  I had no other symptoms, but I couldn’t get my BP down, even with additional doses of my meds.  They had some great meds that brought it down quickly, and we’ve developed a different prescription regiment to control it going forward.

I have to admit, it all scared the crap out of me.  Sitting in the ER, with wires attached everywhere, looking at my wife sitting there trying not to look scared.  And I felt guilty – it was my laziness and selfishness and sin that had put me and us in that situation.  I was also mad at myself for letting all that time go by without monitoring my BP.  That’s just plain stupid, and I’m smarter than that.

The great news is that God did exactly what I asked Him to do – He gave me what I needed.  It was not the relaxing, refreshing, rejuvenating Sabbath day I had hoped it would be.  But it was an amazing outpouring of His love for me.  I could just as easily have stroked out or had an incident with my heart.  When they tested me at the hospital, they found none of the damage that is often caused by sustained high BP.  So, God brought me the wake up call I needed.

And I am responding.  I am counting my calories and exercising 5 days a week with direction from my doctor.  Until everything gets regulated and I start losing some weight, I’ll likely be seeing my doctor weekly.  I log my activity, caloric intake and BP several times a day.  I am working hard to establish some lifestyle changes.  I’m not trying to get it all done in one week.  I’m trying to make some substantial changes, but do so with the idea that this needs to be the life I will be living from now on.  In other words, it’s going to be a marathon rather than a sprint.

Thanks for reading my story.  I ask for your prayers and accountability.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.