Chest pain

First I found it funny, that whenever I was travelling, there were always medical people around me. Really, at about 90% of the time there was a medical student, a nurse or a doctor sitting next to me. I even ended up doing medical things or talking about medicine even at times when my soul was crying out for a break. Later I understood why. It was a preparation.

As a cardiologist on duty in a hospital, you are mostly confronted with chest pain. This symptom is so often, that Chest Pain Units were established to provide an intensive care for these patients. Chest pain is a SYMPTOM. It is not a sickness. Chest pain does not automatically mean, that you have a heart attack, pain is only a warning that something wrong is happening in the body. It can be a heart attack, but as well an aortal dissection, pulmonary embolism, arrhythmia, valve disorder, airway infections of all sorts, muscle/bone pain or stomach irritation. Or it can be panick and fear taking over the body.

We don´t treat chest pain with a painkiller. We have to find out the cause of the pain and treat that accordingly. Depending on diagnosis a therapy will be initiated. It can be anything from encouraging, supportive words to an acute heart surgery.  I don´t want to make this a medical lecture, I just want to point out few things.

In the spirit realm it is the same. People, also Christians can behave strangely, because they are often in pain. But this pain is only a warning light that something in the system went wrong. We have to go deeper to diagnose – to find the source of this pain. It could be abandonment, fear, rejection, loss, spiritual attack, sin. The diagnostic in the spirit realm is discernment. The ability to see what Jesus sees, and feel what He feels. It is very real and possible, because Jesus lives in me and Holy Spirit is standing right beside me! If you know what you are dealing with, you can fight it. You can replace the lie by speaking the truth, bring life into dead places, peace to chaos or joy to sadness.

I had patients who thought they are of no worth, that they do not matter anymore, that they will not find a new job, parents in dispair because of their kid´s choices. I remember one older man with chest pain, that came to me for stress-echocardiography (heart ultrasound under i.v. medication to imitate a physical activity).  The examination took about 30 minutes and I used this time to show him his heart on the screen, telling him repeatedly, that it functions perfectly even under stress conditions. I was telling him he has a good, healthy, strong heart. I could feel the depression in him from far away.. The atmosphere changed, we were making jokes, were laughing. The examination didn´t prove any disorder, so I wrote a report and off he went.

Few months later (I was not working in the clinic any more) my colleague told me, that he left a letter for me. It was beautiful, he basically thanked me for encouraging him to get up and get a help from a psychologist. And, as he wrote, he is feeling good, can sleep and is enjoying life again.

What can you say? I love my job! I´ve got to do things like this! What a privilage! God´s Love is the key opening every human heart. We just have to invite Him into every situation we are dealing with and ask the Holy Spirit for instructions and words of knowledge. I guarantee you, it will be an adventure of your life!