Her cerebellum had swollen due to the stroke, blocking the fluid from flowing down. The result was an excruciating headache. By early afternoon, the doctors wanted to do an angiogram to get a better look at the vessels in the back of her head. They had determined that it was a bilateral stroke affecting both sides of the cerebellum, the lower portion of the brain in the back of the head. It had affected the right side of the brain the most. As they were preparing to do the test, they changed their minds because of the severe pain she was in and decided to do a CAT scan instead. This would be one of the many interventions by the Lord. The scan revealed the quickly progressing swelling. They hurriedly took her away to surgically place a shunt in her forehead that would relieve the now dangerously building pressure from the trapped spinal fluid. Shelley's immediate family and our children nervously waited as they operated on her. While anxiously waiting to hear how my bride was doing, I continually talked with the Lord. We are sometimes rudely awakened to the fact that life is truly but a vapor (James 4:14). You never know what tomorrow holds which is why you and I MUST be sure that our hearts are right before the Lord. We must allow the Master Physician, Jesus Christ, to surgically remove the cancer of sin within us by His Holy Spirit before it's too late. I'm not just talking about the “sinners� in the world, but also those who have turned to Christ. A false sense of security, which has been promoted by false doctrines within the church, has many resting on the couch of apathy while they precariously stand in the place of great judgment with the rest of the world (1 Corinthians 11:32). We must cry out for the Holy Spirit to search our hearts in this midnight hour. The King is coming and many virgins are sleeping without oil in their lamps. Wake up church and draw near to God with a humble, repentant heart before the door is shut and you find yourself in a situation and place you never thought possible. While there is time draw near to the Lord so that He may draw near to you before the doors of His ark of deliverance are shut. Our window of opportunity is quickly closing. A Time Of Testing The surgeon's assistant soon came out and informed us that the operation had gone well, but the doctor now wanted to perform an emergency craniotomy. Shelley's brain had fluid in more inaccessible areas that had to be quickly reached. The assistant then rather bluntly informed us that if they did not operate immediately that Shelley would die. Die!!! We had not even been close to going that extreme with our thoughts. It was now late afternoon. The next few hours would be the most intense moments of my life up to that time. It would
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