Episode 11: Coping with COVID

The following program is sponsored by evangelical life ministries. Welcome to engaging truth, the manifestation of God's word and the lives of people around us. Join us each week. As we explore the impact of his message of spiritual renewal from the lesson of forgiveness forwards in the crucible of divorce, to the message of salvation earned by an executioner from a condemned killer to the gift of freedom found in the rescue of victims of human trafficking. This is God's truth in action, good evening, and welcome to engaging truth. I am, uh, bill Pruitt from, uh, evangelical life ministries. And I have here with me, uh, sort of the father and founder of event live ministry. He's pastor David Schultz. And, uh, David has, uh, sort of rejoined us from a period of, uh, quarantine. Uh, David was actually, uh, uh, under the grip of, uh, of the deadly COVID virus, um, a number of, uh, number of weeks ago. And he's back now with us, and we're gonna talk a little, little bit this evening about, um, about how the Christian approaches a, uh, uh, a, a, a virus or a, a, a sort of a medical situation, a crisis like that. Welcome David.

Well, thank you, bill. And thank you that we have this opportunity to talk about a number of things. Um, one is the simple issue that faces all of us today in this culture, not only here in America, but around the world. And that is the deadly thing called COVID 19. Um, I've done a lot of reading on this in soy view. And one of the things that we heard about bill over the course of time was that this would affect the senior population, a great deal, uh, to, uh, their demise, rather than the younger population who could deal with it. And this probably put through the, the very veins and arteries and sinuses of God's people, uh, some fear and anticipation. What about me? You know, what about me? I'm not a young guy anymore. I'm in my eighties, you in your seventies. And so we gotta look at this thing with, with, with reality,

Precisely we're both, we're neither one of us are immune to end of life issues that are at our age currently. Um, but it's, it's interesting that, um, that something like COVID, um, I think I'm not sure whether the people know this, but your son is a physician. The licensed physician, uh, is sort of the, the director of your medical care when anything happens to you and your family. So if you could describe a little bit to us, David, exactly what, what you experienced and went through while you had the, the COVID vaccine or

The COVID virus. It was, it was the most interesting, but frightening thing. Um, and because I came into the kitchen of our house on Saturday night, this was before worship on Sunday, I was preparing, or I prepared for, uh, a devotional, uh, at the village of Glen lock farms, where I'm the chaplain walked into the kitchen with my plastic glass to fill it up with ice. And I fell smack on my face. I have no idea what happened. My daughter heard it. She came, came running and said, dad, what is it? And I said, I don't know, I can't move. And they immediately, she thought of a stroke, you know, that something happened, uh, to me because of a stroke. And she said, L, let me try and help you up. And I said, don't, don't just call EMS and they'll get me up. And , uh, again, at this point, thinking nothing abnormal, just, uh, falling in the kitchen, uh, popping glass water, and the Ms.

People came. The first thing they did is shove a thermometer in my mouth and says, you have a fever of 103. We need to take you into the hospital immediately. Not knowing even what that meant. Uh, my daughter was, uh, there and my wife in her wheelchair and my daughter was apprehensive because of the fact that she had, um, she, she has an immune system issue and she tried to get me if she was codling me. And then she realized she didn't have a mask on. Well, EMS came, they took the fever and said, we need to get you in the hospital. And from that moment on for the next 30 hours, I remember almost nothing. Um, I do know, I do know that coming into the hospital, um, they immediately took a COVID test and told me that I had COVID 19. I didn't know of that.

I had no idea where I got it. And I've thought about that for a gazillion hours. And I have no idea where it came, but at that particular point, um, they, they decided together with my son as kind of their imprimatur, that they were gonna do this, this medical procedure. And they shoved a paper in front of me when I was feeling absolutely the most miserable person in the world to have me read it. And I said, I can't read that. I can't even focus my eyes upon it. I said, does my son know this? They said, yes. If he says, it's, we're gonna do it, we do it. And they said, well, we've been doing it for three hours already. Anyway, they had their way. They had their way once, once, once, once the sun gives his approval. Yeah. So I had no idea.

I had no idea what that was. I can't even pronounce the names today. I've seen them written and I, the whole report now, but I cannot tell you, bill, the next 30 hours have been the worst 30 hours of my life. I cannot describe them. You're a writer, you're a professional writer. I could describe this to you and you could put it in best English. I cannot. All I can tell you is that screaming and yelling and noise and heat and fever, um, and pain were just all mixed together with a Satan issue of Gabriel. Having sent a couple angels to grab me by the hands while Satan was trying to drag me into hell and Satan, Satan was trying to drag me into hell and the angels were trying to drag me back out into the arms of Jesus. That's all the goodness of that 30 hours that I can remember otherwise noise and, and a kind of, of, of, of understanding that was frightening because of the fact that I knew I had been told what I had, but I had no idea where I was on the spectrum. Was this going to put me like many of my brother pastors, um, beyond the pale, it could, was this going to put me into a position of, of, uh, a long, long, long medical involvement? I didn't know, but I tell you bill I'm, I don't wanna go through that again, but I can tell you, I can tell you that the, the, the love of Jesus never escaped my mind. Satan tried to obliterate it and all that, but Jesus never left my mind or my heart. So that struggle that

They tell us about when you're, when you're at death's door is genuine and it's, uh, it's one, one that

Actually naturally occurs, well, the gen as close to the genuineness of it, as I can get to you, that was it. Now, now you've already listened to the words and you could put this into words. I cannot, I mean, I, I cannot describe the, the, the hellishness of those moments and the struggle, the actual struggle place. Oh yeah. And, and there was no escape. The, there, there was no door that I could walk through, or there was no one's hand that I could grab that would help me to escape. And so the medication then that these doctors and, um, and my son, um, took some while, plus the hundreds of thousands of people across the country, who I heard were praying, you know, for, for my healing. And, um, my return to some kind of normalcy. There were a,

There were a number of people there, uh, on, on the, the, had you on their prayer list, without question, without question, indeed.

And I heard from people across the country, having their people overseas, praying for this as well. Um, so I believe that the greatest, the greatest blessing for my life was to know, even in that, that prayers were sending bombarding the throne of God, not just for me, but for other people as well, who were suffering the same thing. Um, and, and especially for seniors who, who had thought, wow, you know, maybe if this, this attacks my life, it'll be the end. I'm here to share with you. the simple message that this does not necessarily have to be the end. There may be a couple miserable days in between that you gotta suffer. Um, but this isn't the end. It doesn't need to be the end. It just simply something that we're gonna have to deal with as people of the earth.

Very good. And I understand that you were for, for, uh, a couple of days were in one of the, uh, larger hospitals, uh, here in, uh, in the Houston area, north, north, north Houston area. And then you were moved for a couple of days, then into a, uh, sort of an overflow area at the hospital down close to Katy. Um, it's, it's wonderful that they have these sorts of facilities available, uh, to take patients that are sort of overflow patients convalescing, and they're not, not quite ready to go back into a home environment where there might be someone who's at risk from, from, from accepting the, the virus itself.

There, there were some points of beauty in this, um, on the end of the 30 hours of the hell, which I've described, I saw what I saw, what Jesus says. I'm the light of the world. I saw that little flicker of light that meant to me that it was gonna be different. It was gonna be somewhat better, but it was going to be different. And that life began to just expand and expand to the point where I began to see more things in light of the promises of the gospel. I will never leave you or forsake you. Um, um, asking if she'll be given you seeking, you shall find you'll receive, not because you ask not, um, or it says in the book of Samuel, that beautiful passage, um, uh, don't ever say that it's not my responsibility to pray for you because it is.

I spent time every night during the night. Um, and I can't tell you what I woke up for at three o'clock in the morning, but I promised every nurse, every caregiver, um, I said, just to let you know, I'm gonna be praying for you in that time. Um, give me your name and I'll remember it maybe, but you know, I'm gonna be praying for you. And so tell me something about your life and you really be surprised the people who care for you in the middle of the night, who nobody knows are there. Um, their lives are stressed, is like everybody else. And all of a sudden you hear about the stresses of their life and you have something to pray for. And they are so grateful. Somebody cared enough for just a moment to set aside a time to pray for them. And so my time every night from three until four in the morning when I forced myself to be awake, uh, which wasn't hard in the hospital when they come around at you every hour, uh, uh, to pray for people.

And I can remember one of the last ladies that came in probably a CNA. And I said, what can I pray for you about tonight? And she said, you know, if I wouldn't have gotten this job, I would not be alive today. I have no idea in the world what that means. I didn't ask her to pursue it, but I kept thinking about it. I was there just at that ticket or moment to ask her to pray that I could pray for her and that prayer again, um, insulated for her, the fact that that Jesus is real and that his prayers are prayers to him are always answered.

Exactly, exactly. Um, let's take a little moment here to, uh, tell people, uh, who we are and what we're about engaging truth is presented each week by evangelical life ministries, a 5 0 1 [inaudible], [inaudible] not for profit organization based in Cypress, Texas, you can hear us each week on KK, H T the word 100.7 FM, and you can also find our content at our website, a L M houston.org, and on our Facebook page, our OnAir personalities and board members serve in a purely voluntary capacity. And our programming is funded by donations from listeners like you and by grants from charitable foundations to contact us with comments, questions, donations, or peer requests we can be reached at evangelical life ministries, post office box 5 68, Cypress, Texas, 77, 410 at our website, Elm houston.org.

There were some things that we can learn from this. And, and I guess every time something happens to us, bill as seniors in particular, uh, we have to back off just as a, I can say what mean, if this, what, what, what does this mean? What, what significance does this have in my life? I had a lot of time in the middle of the night, and I was in my prayers for the people who were praying for me and the people at the village, the people at St. John. And I remember asking the Lord a number of times, what does this mean? What, what do you intend for this to accomplish? Um, maybe you don't want to answer that. Maybe you want me to think through it and come up with my own answer. But over the course of time, I began to, to realize that everything that happens to us doesn't happen by accident happens by design.

And what was the design that this had for my life. Um, a couple things, number one, to prepare myself and prepare other there's that this doesn't have to be the end. , you know, we, we don't have to throw a, throw a, um, a baby out with a bath water on this and say, well, this is the end. We can say, what does this mean? Maybe just maybe, um, the Lord has a purpose in all this. Maybe he wants us to be spokesman for himself, and that no matter what happens in life, he knows about it. He knows about it in advance, and maybe he's even prepared it in such a way for us to, to grasp the very truth of it. The second thing is that we can become advocates and say to people, if you've been scoping at this thing as being something very illegitimate, or just created by medical science, or by scars, let me, let me test you because I've been there. Um, I'm, I bet at the very pits of where I didn't wanna be. Um, but I can tell you this simple thing, and that is that, uh, if you are scoffing about wearing a mask, if you are scoffing about keeping socially distancing, if you're scoffing about, uh, how you relate to people, people trust me, you need to do that. You need to take this stuff seriously. It ain't gonna go away for a while.

Uh, agreed. I, I have a question. And this is one that I've been considering. You have been now for a number of years, the, uh, um, the chaplain at a, uh, a large senior facility here, the Northern part. How has this experience with your illness changed your perspective on being a chaplain to a group of senior citizens who are facing the same sort of end end of life issues?

Good question. Uh, because I've thought of about it as well. All of these people who live in a retirement village, such as the one where I'm chaplain are all on the south side of the hill, they're no longer going up, they're all coming down. They all know that this may be their last, their last home on earth, their last living place. It may be that, uh, a chaplain coming from a different place that they've requested or may be me that sits by their bedside, uh, in prayer with them. As, as they hear about the devastation of stuff like this, they may not get COVID. And in fact, most of them did not experience COVID at all, even even were exposed to it, but that still doesn't beget the fact that we are on the south side of the hill. And that means that going back up and starting over is impossible, but S facing where we are on this hill is critically important in our relationship to each other, our family.

And if there have been strained relationships in your family, my friends, correct them, correct them through reconciliation and forgiveness. If you've had a son or a daughter or someone, your relationship that's been cantankerous and just has irritated the live entire outta you, forgive him, forgive him, forgive him, forgive him. Just don't go to bed at night without forgive him. Remember, uh, as we forgive the Lord says he forgives as well. So the forgiveness routine is really upon our shoulders. I think that has really helped me to grasp something more important than I saw before to, to reconstruct relationships where they've been afraid. And you know what I'm talking about. Exactly.

and I think, I think it's probably good to have the gift and the experience that you've had when you are counseling, a senior who is going through that struggle, that you went through, where they're being dragged in one direction by Satan and in another direction by the angels that you have can speak to them with a comp of which side will win under those circumstances. So long as their faith is rooted in Jesus Christ.

This for many people who are on, uh, the, on the cusp of the hill, this is frightening. This is very frightening because of the fact that they don't know where it comes from. No one seems to know where it comes. Oh, they got all kinds of speculation about where it came from. But I can say, as I passed by a hundred people, hundreds of people every day, not in the village or not at St. John's all of a sudden I get it so they could receive the, the same thing under the, the same circumstances without even thinking about it. So not to be afraid for the future, but to simply say, I walk with a walk with Jesus in hand in hand. And I know that if this situation that I'm crossing over on this particular rickety bridge is the end. I've still ill got my hand in the hand of the creator, the Redeemer of my life.

And that shall never end. That's the joy with which I walk some of the people at the village. Um, and I know that this is true among some who really, when they saw, uh, when they see someone coming that doesn't have their mask exactly where it's supposed to be, they become their critic immediately. You, uh, they become not their advocate and say, me, I encourage you. They say your nose ain't covered. You know? And so, as a result of that, uh, they become each other's critic as well. All I can say is that I have loved, I have learned of the love of Jesus in a special, new way going through this, because if he let me go through it, why should he not let other seniors also, why should he preserve them? If what we need is the experience of a day of trauma or in two days of trauma where our dependents must fall completely on him.

The reminder that the source of all good things and the source of all our healing is indeed in the Lord,

Without it, there is nothing bill, um, w with, with, without the compassionate love of Jesus lazed on our heart and mind, what is life worthwhile? Because when toys are gathered, , it's the guy with the most toys who wins, but what does he win? Zero, absolutely nothing.

Well, it's a great Testament that, that you have gone through this, that you've recovered, that you've had the wonderful support from all those faithful people. A lot of, a lot of those ha hospital workers and stuff are people of great faith who work diligently and show their love for one another and their love of the Lord through their service medically. And it's just a, a wonderful Testament to, to those skills and their devotion that, uh, we have a lot of people surviving. Um, David have about a, about a minute, and I'd like for you to just, uh, just, uh, give us a little, uh, close this with a, uh, with a prayer. And, uh, and then just, just your final thoughts.

If this comes into your house or into your life, don't be afraid. Um, just know that the Lord is, is the creator, the Redeemer, the sanctify of our life, and nothing happens without his approval or without his, his understanding. And so I pray heavenly father, thank you for the opportunity. You give us this day to be advocates of your precious name, no matter where we go, may the opportunity that you let me walk through, not necessarily be that other people have to walk through, but can learn from this, that you are a God that is always present. You've given us to promise. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Just take me by the hand. We pray this in the holy impressions name of

Jesus. I'm amen. Oh, amen. Thank you very much, David. We, uh, appreciate you. Thank you all for listening to us tonight. Uh, please join us again. Uh, next week on engaging truth here at KK, HT the word 100.7 FM or on our website@mhouston.to Oregon. Thank you very much for listening in goodnight. Thank you for listening to this broadcast of engaging truth. Be sure to join us each week at this time, to help support our ministry, contact evangelical life ministries, post office box 5 6 8, Cypress Texas 7 7 4 1 0. Or visit our web site@elmhouston.org, or find us on Facebook at evangelical life ministries. Thank you.