Turner Syndrome – Getting A New Heart Beat
My 3-year old niece just went through open heart surgery. Scary. They cracked her chest wide open, pumped all of her blood through a machine while her heart was being fixed, stitched her chest back up with 6 wires that reconnect her breastplate back together, and started her heart back pumping again. And within less than a week she is back at home like nothing ever happened. Unbelievable, right?
Scripture: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” – Ezekiel 11:19
Observation/Application:
This sweet little girl was diagnosed with Turner syndrome. It is a condition that occurs in about 1 in 2,500 newborn girls worldwide, but is much more commonly found in miscarriages and stillbirths. One third of the those born with Turner syndrome are born with a heart defect, and this affects their development. And if their heart is not fixed, their bodies will not properly develop and complications associated with these heart defects can be life-threatening. But by God’s grace, doctors are able to operate on the heart and fix it.
Before the surgery, when we were talking with her about what was going to happen, she says, “I’m getting a new heart beat.” How precious is that? Think about this surgery, very scary to us, not scary to her. She is young, and still trusts. She has nothing but faith. Only a child could be going into this surgery with so little fear, so little worry, so little concern. In fact, she was excited about getting a new heart beat!
That is exactly what God wants for us – a new heart beat! He wants us to walk free of fear, and worry, and concern, and trust in Him. This is what Jesus meant when he said that our faith should be like that of a little child. (Matthew 18:3). And with this new heart that is undivided, we will have a new Spirit. Like this open heart surgery, he will replace our old failing heart, the one that is not allowing us to properly develop, with a new heart, just like they did for that sweet little girl. And in this new heart we will be able to properly develop and live a life as God intends – full of faith, full of joy, full of peace, full of love, free of fear, free of worry, free of concern.
So how do we get this new heart? Who can we trust to open us up, pull out our old heart, and put in a new heart? There is only one doctor, one healer, who can do this surgery for us, and His name is Jesus! Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” We came into the world the same way as this little girl, born in God’s image, full of trust and faith and goodness. And then over the course of our lives, our hearts get jacked up. No we may not have been born of Turner syndrome, but over time we get hurt and things happen, and our hearts develop a different kind of condition that we have to go get diagnosed by another doctor. And we are told that we need medication, when we actually just need Jesus! We are told that it is all in our minds, when the root cause of the issue is actually in our hearts.
What has happened to our hearts and turned us from God’s image and the innocence of a child. Why are we so full of fear, worry, concern, and sometimes we have those not so good thoughts. Some of us have those thoughts probably more than others 🙂 Jacked-up hearts, lead to jacked-up thoughts, lead to jacked-up actions. We do not properly function and cannot live our lives to the fullest with these jacked-up hearts, just like our bodies couldn’t properly function if the heart was physically not functioning properly as with Turner syndrome. While we may see that her heart had issues, do we really look at the problems with our own hearts?
Want to rid yourself of all of the fear and worry and guilt and doubt and anger? Turn to Jesus. Want to live a life that to the fullest? Turn to Jesus. Get a new heart beat today, through Jesus Christ our Lord, our ultimate doctor and healer!
Prayer:
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your Word this morning. Thanks you for guiding my niece through surgery successfully and giving her a new heartbeat. We know that she is special little girl with a special purpose that you have seen her through this surgery. Help us to see how we are special and precious that we are too in your eyes. Give us a new heart, with a new heart beat. Open us up Lord from the inside out, and give us a new heart. Help us to live a life fullest, trusting in you, free of worry, free of fear, and full of nothing but hope, love, peace, joy, courage, wisdom, and strength. Fill us with all of your goodness. Let your Holy Spirit and all of your power and goodness flow through us Lord. Guide our every step, our every thought, our every Word. Let your light shine in us that more will come to you, restored, refreshed, and renewed, in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
Image courtesy of: Andy G
Photo By Andy G
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