The Great Shepherd and the Lost Sheep
by
Earl Scoles Sr.
The week of June 8th 2011 is a lost week to me. I worked all week and on my last night at work my wife Linda and two of our Grandsons, Earl lll and little Jared picked me up after work. This is always a treat to me having our Grandchildren with us. From what I am told the ride home was not out of the norm. I guess I was feeling good and happy to see the boys.
I was working from 4pm to 12am and as soon as we got home I went to bed. We were living in an apartment complex in which my Daughter Tonya was the manager. From what I am told I announced to my wife, shortly after going to bed that I was having a heart attack. My wife called 911 and sent young Earl lll to get my daughter. The little guy didn’t even take time to put his shoes on. Shortly after my daughter arrived the EMT’s arrived. My wife and daughter were praying all the time. I am blessed because The Father always answers their prayers. They are a powerful team against the forces of evil. Matthew 18:19, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as concerning anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
I don’t know if the two boys were praying or not but I do know that they were worried and Jesus knows their heart.
I am told that I was dead by the time the EMT’s arrived and they jerked me out of bed onto the floor and started CPR. This didn’t work so they had to shock me. Satan sure is sneaky. He waited till I was relaxed and tried to take me out of here. Jesus had other plans. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).
The paramedics managed to get me revived and transported me to the local hospital where I died again. They too had to shock me and bring me back. Satan wasn’t ready to give up but The Lord Jesus is a greater force and He wouldn’t give up either. (Jesus said I was going to live and here I am. I am living proof that Jesus loves me and He is Lord of Lords). After I was revived and I guess somewhat stable they monitored my condition till the next day and shipped me to a hospital in Columbus, Ohio that was better equipped to handle my situation.
I remember seeing my wife Linda and my daughter Tonya through a doorway. I don’t know where we were at the time. We could have been at home, the first or second hospital or it could have been a dream. In my case there was no bright light, no tunnel or anything described by others but I do believe the others had such an experience.
My wife assures me that they were there all the time and only left the room when the doctors and nurses needed to work on me. All the time they were praying that The Father would heal me and renew my heart. My family is a praying family, Praise God. As more family arrived there were more prayers sent to the Father on my behalf. What an awesome family I have. What a powerful force against the evil one.
I was taken in to surgery the next day and given a defibrillator. I don’t remember any of this and am only writing what I have been told. I was released 3 days later and allowed to go home. My doctors will monitor my defibrillator every 3 months. Last Wednesday was the first monitor check. The defibrillator is so precise that it can tell of any change in my heart at any minute of any day. That is a great piece of equipment. My heart specialist a month before told me that my heart was healthy. This is due to the healing we have been praying for. The monitor they hooked to my defibrillator last Wednesday said there had been a change in my condition on a certain day but it didn’t know what the change was. This stumped the people running the monitor. My wife and I smiled at each other. We knew it was picking up the healing that God had done to my heart. "By His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). The machine doesn’t know God, but praise God we know Him.
I don’t remember the ride home or even arriving at home. The first two weeks at home are lost also. I am still asking questions about that. It has been four months since then and we have moved to be closer to our doctors. I praise God for good doctors. I praise Him more for the healing that He is doing in my body right now. He is also working on my spirit. I believe that my spirit was affected as well as my body and memory.
A few years back my wife and I had turned our lives over to Jesus. He is our Lord and Savior. My family believes with us that Jesus wanted me here and would not let satan have me. "He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him, because he always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). Does this make me feel special? I guess it does but no more special than anyone else.In God's eyes "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Jesus will intercede for any one of us if we ask, but we have to ask. I am so thankful that He accepted me when I asked Him to be my Lord and Savior. It’s a promise He made to us many years ago before we were here. He knew us then and will continue to know us when we accept Him and ask Him into our lives. Our God is an awesome God. I love Him more than anyone or anything in the world.
My memory of those 3 weeks is gone. I don’t remember that last week at work or the first two weeks of being home. At times I may get on my wife's nerves because I ask too many questions but she understands that I have to know. I want to know what happened and how I reacted. Maybe it’s a guy thing I don’t know but I want to know what to Praise My Lord for. I know He deserves all the praise and glory. He saved my life for a purpose and I need to know that too.
I try to pray and ask Him what happened but my spirit always tells me to give thanks so I do. "O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 107:1). That is more important to me than knowing how or why. He is my Lord and I owe Him my life. I love Him with all my life. It is His to do with what He wants to. I must stay humble so I can glorify Him.
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" Isaiah 40:28-31).
