It was Monday, March 31, 2014, when the unexpected happened! It was a holiday that day and I went to the Church office with my son Joshua and worked on a book till 2:30 pm. We had lunch, went home and I took a nap. Later I went to the gym and jogged for about 15 minutes when both my arms felt weak and I felt a tightness around my chest. I did a few weights and the pain subsided. I returned home, had a shower, and then this intense pain gripped my chest. I started sweating profusely. Seeing me, my son said, “Dad what happened?” At that moment I felt weak and restless. My wife, Amy who is a doctor called my parents and they took me to the hospital.

During the car ride, my father encouraged me to cough as it’ll help the blood going, but I felt so weak doing that.

 In the emergency room, the Resident doctor acted quickly. The ECG indicated a myocardial infarction. My heart rate was down to about 40 bpm (normal is about 60-70 bpm). The doctor and Amy took the ECG to another doctor, who had just completed his posting in Cardiology. He immediately contacted the Consulting Cardiologist and though he was on leave, he came immediately.

I was drenched in sweat and lying on the emergency bed with an intravenous drip when suddenly the pain became intense. I don’t have words to describe it except that it was unbearable. It seemed like my whole chest and heart were being ripped apart. I had never experienced that kind of pain before and I knew I was at the point of death. I realized if I don’t survive this my life was going to end. I was toeing the line of death and couldn’t say anything.  The doctors and nurses were doing lots of things. Death was so close. I lifted my right hand to God with whatever strength I had. I moved my lips silently, “Lord Jesus, I have served you faithfully all my life. Dear Holy Spirit, I thank you, you are my Comforter, and you are with me right now! Lord Jesus, I need to live. I need to live for my wife. I need to live for my children. I need to live for the Church. There’s still so much work to be done. Lord Jesus, I need to live. Thank you, Lord Jesus!”

I remembered Psalm 91: 15,16 “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

I was wheeled into the ICU. I remember them cutting my t-shirt and preparing my arms and legs for catheterization. After that, it was a blur. The next thing I remember is being on the table inside the Cath Lab.

The Angiogram showed a 100% block in the right coronary artery. They did an angioplasty and put in the stent. The cardiologist later told me, “You almost died on the table. Your heart stopped beating. A pacemaker was used to keep your heart beating during the procedure”. He also mentioned, that if we had come 10-15 minutes late, I may not have survived!

This verse from Psalm 116:8 is so true, “For You have delivered my soul from death, My eyes from tears, And my feet from falling.”

There’s a lot to be thankful for. It was a holiday and my whole family was around me. They laid their hands and prayed over me at home before I left for the hospital. The streets were not crowded due to the holiday and even the ER was free! The people at the emergency acted quickly and there was new equipment at the Cardiac Cath Lab! We could see the hand of God in every detail to bring help at the right time.

“Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1)

The procedure went well and as I recuperated in the hospital, I reflected on these points.

1. I refuse to question “why GOD?”. I only choose to “WORSHIP GOD”. God is too strong to let me down. I’m going to worship Him, for He is God. You don’t need an explanation for everything, Jesus says, “Enjoy the peace beyond understanding. I will give you peace the world can’t give”. You need to have faith in God to experience this peace.
   I examined my life and looked at “the why”. The physicians at the hospital were very surprised since I did not have any of the common risk factors like smoking or alcohol. I was 46 running a Church and a Software company and though it was hectic, I enjoyed it. Going forward I decided to make lifestyle changes, focus only on the Church, and make my routine less hectic. In 2013, I was doing 3 sermons, two in Bangalore and one in Mangalore flying up and down for it every Sunday!
   While we do have God’s promises for health and healing and Christ’s provision for our wholeness through His Cross, we also need to take responsibility for our lifestyle and do our part in diet, exercise, rest, and managing stress to live a strong and healthy life.
   
2. I refuse to harbor “negative” emotions and I choose to remain “positive”. I refuse to have any form of bitterness or anger toward God, or towards life. I choose to rejoice, to be cheerful, and thankful. “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22)
   “Rejoice always, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16,18)
   
3. I refuse to operate out of “FEAR”. I choose to operate out of “FAITH”.
   It’s easy to become angry with life, but choose to be thankful and cheerful.
   FEAR creates self-imposed limitations. But FAITH receives God’s plans and God’s wisdom and the empowerment to fulfill them.
   This does not mean I won’t make changes. It means that I will do things out of FAITH, rather than out of FEAR.

Earlier in March that year, on the 22^nd we were in Chandigarh and returning when I had a very strange dream. I won’t go into the details but essentially the meaning was that God was calling us as a church to see the coming together of three streams:

 One stream was that of the supernatural of miracles & healings, the other was the prophetic & deliverance, and the third was missions.

I wrote down several ways in which we could impact the unreachable parts of our world and how we could achieve it:

• The Bible College will become an important part because we’re not planting churches directly but we’re going to equip the local people so they can operate the churches and impact their nation.
• The Christian Leaders Conference will equip leaders so they’ll know how to minister and lead God’s people properly.
• The Marketplace becomes an important part of the ministry so believers in the marketplace will be equipped to be successful.
• The Worship School. I thank God for the worship that we’re experiencing.  We need to impart this to others so they could also worship God.
• Our publications. To increase in local languages.

As a people who have come together to make this journey, we must perceive God’s presence so that we can be a house that is filled with God’s glory and manifest the supernatural power of God.

I’ve been thinking, “What is it that will impact our city and what’ll it take to be like the church in the book of Acts?” One thing that stands out is the demonstration of the power of God. So I invite all of us as a people to pursue God’s presence so that we can be a house that is filled with the glory of God.  

And lastly, I want you to answer this question, “Am I ready to meet my maker today? Am I ready to cross the line and stand before the Lord?

I realized that one never knows when death can come knocking. It would be presumptuous on our part to say I’ll wait till I’m 80 and then decide to follow Jesus. The best thing to do is to be ready now and to be ready all the time.

Was I prepared?

 I was ready but I knew I just needed to be here.

Ashish Raichur

Ashish Raichur has authored some 50+ books that are freely available in eBook and audiobook formats: https://apcwo.org/books/english