Do you Practice What You Preach?

Do You Practice What You Preach?

Bill Brinkworth

It has been very easy to encourage those in sickness, trials, or even facing death that “It will be alright. Get close to the Lord, and He will help you through the valley you are facing.” Although I really believe that, I always wondered when it is my time to face death, severe trials, or a really bleak future, how will I face it? Will I really practice what I preach?

Several years ago, when I first faced heart problems, I found my answer to that situation. My blood pressure and heart rate were very abnormal. The results of a heart stress test also showed some question about my heart’s health. After several days the local hospital transferred me to a larger hospital that had facilities for more serious heart care.

After arriving at that hospital, I was scheduled for a heart catheterization. After being told what they were about to do and what could happen, I was soon scheduled for the test. When the time came, I was put on a gurney and wheeled down to the operating room.

As I was being wheeled down the long hallway, after kissing my wife goodbye, it was then that I thought about what could happen. I remember telling myself “Ya’ know this could be the last time I see my wife. Something could go wrong while they were probing around, or they may choose to do something while they are in there. I may not wake up. The next time I open my eyes could be in Heaven.”

There was no nervousness. There was no doubt or fear. There were a wonderful peace and confidence that everything I thought, taught, and preached was true in my life. They were real, not just hypocritical words. “Everything is alright”, as the Sunday school song I had led children in singing says.

I proved it to myself that moment that what I believed, practiced, and told others was real in my life. Without a doubt, I have done all the Bible reveals one to do to be saved, serving, and have God’s intervention in every step of my life.

From that point on, any problem or situation I have faced has always been greeted with the peace that “My beliefs, faith, and trust are real. Anything I face will be worked out to the Father’s plans and desires. Nothing can hurt me or happen to me unless it is allowed by the Lord. His grace is sufficient. The worst thing that can happen to me is I go to Heaven, and that is a wonderful prospect!”

Most of us will one day face a similar situation. It may be a doctor’s prognosis that our life will come to a short end. Perhaps it will be a split second before an inevitable tragic result in an upcoming car accident. Maybe even a fear that one will die of what many in your family succumbed to.

When you face that time, it may only be for a brief, fleeting moment. Will you have the peace that your faith is real; that you really are in God's hands, and that you wholly trust that it will all be okay?

Any fretting may show that there is doubt and question. Are you really sure you are saved, and a child of God? If you are, then be assured that if you are in His hands, then only His will in your life will happen, and it will all be as He desires in your life. You will be alright!
“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them” Psalm 119:165 Not even trials, difficulties, or death should rob us of our peace!

“If you see a man unterrified in the midst of dangers, untouched by desires, happy in adversity, peaceful amid the storm, will you not say: a divine power has descended upon that man?” — Seneca

This article was featured in The Bible View #645.