God's gift of tomorrow

A couple of weeks ago I thought I had heartburn or acid reflux, but a treadmill stress test revealed results my doctor declared “highly abnormal.” This was a shock, but not the biggest one. After a heart catheterization, the attending physician said, “You can have a heart bypass or a heart attack. The choice is yours.” He then told my wife, “Your husband is a heart attack waiting to happen.” Eighteen hours later, in the operating room, I wondered if tomorrow would come or if it would be “good-bye” to all I love on this planet Earth.

God hadn’t promised me a tomorrow, nor did I deserve one, but He gave it to me anyway. Every new day is a picture of His immense grace heaped upon us undeserving, unworthy creatures. Yahweh’s grace, thought of in this way, overwhelms us. It softens the suffering inherent in disease and natural disasters, creates gratefulness, and encourages love for what He has done. And when God gives us tomorrows, we think more about loving and praying for others.

I am a member of the board of directors of God’s World Publications (GWP), the parent company of WORLD, but I don’t write this column because of that—board membership doesn’t give me editorial privileges. The editors asked me to write columns because my business experience might help other Christians in the workplace. And now I have the experience of God giving me a tomorrow, which made me realize that, as a board member, GWP’s leaders need my prayers more than they need my advice, they need my respect more than they need my wisdom, they need my love more than they need my criticism, and they need my concern more than they need my oversight.

I’ve written about various types of businesses in this space but not about the journalism business particularly, yet GWP is part of an industry that’s facing tough times. Hundreds of companies like GWP have failed over the past 10 years. Will an organization led by Christian principles as given in the Bible fare differently? The rain falls on the just and unjust, and as the nation increasingly rejects biblical truth and godly wisdom, GWP’s job gets harder and harder. WORLD members write letters praising our editors, writers, and designers, but it’s behind-the-scenes leaders like GWP CEO Kevin Martin and his management team who make the editorial work possible.

Please pray with me gratefully for Kevin and all of GWP’s business staff, that a thousand tomorrows will be graciously given to them and the company.