Faith

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Thump
Joe Stafford was somewhere, but all he knew for sure was that wherever he was that noise was there too.

Thump
There…that was it! There was one other thing that Joe was aware of. Every time he heard the noise, he also felt the pain.

Thump
Again, only this time both the sound and the ache he had been feeling seemed farther away, like either he or they were moving apart.

Thump
Ah! This time was even better. Both of his unwanted companions were drifting away like a ship or boat with no anchor.

Thump
Again, better still. A few more repeats and he would be free. Joe almost cried out, “Away, away…leave me and never return.”

Thump
Once he had dreaded these two tormenting twins, but now he was beginning to welcome them. Soon they would be gone.

Thump
“Yes, yes, oh yes,” Joe wanted to shout, but something was wrong. As he tried to open his mouth to expel the words his lips seem sealed.

Thump
Wait! Something’s not right. Joe now realized he had no control of his body. His hands and feet would not move as he directed.

Thump
Joe tried to wiggle his toes but they failed to respond. Perhaps if he just manipulated one finger on one hand? But again, it refused to cooperate.

Thump
This time, along with the distant noise and ever weakening pain, there was an added feeling. It was not all in his body as the other two, but on his chest.

Thump
The two unwelcome guests, nearly gone, had been replaced with a cold metal feel on the skin above his heart and lungs.

Thump, ouch!
The sound was there, but again it was frozen deep down inside him. Joe had felt a new pain. This one was sharp and in his arm.

Thump
The sound was so weak that Joe could hardly hear it any longer. The original hurting was almost nonexistent, but he was beginning to feel cold and clammy.

Thump
Joe waited, but both the noise and pain seemed to disappear. Now he heard something new--a voice--a man talking in a loud excited tone.

Thump
Something was being placed over his nose and mouth. A rush of cool, damp, pure air was running into his nasal passages. Joe tried to inhale with his lungs but the organs failed to respond.

Thump
Again, that same voice said something about, “Hurry we are losing him,” then a pushing feeling on his chest…down and up, down and up, again and again, over and over.

Thump
Now he remembered. He had been out drinking with some friends. They had come across a young preacher telling how that someday we must all stand before God.

Thump
Instead of heeding the youthful lad as he told of God’s grace and love in sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for them, they mocked and laughed at him.

Thump
Then, without warning, Joe had felt a pain in his chest. He could not draw air into his body. The pain became so intense he crumbled to the ground and passed out.

Thump
The next thing he could recall was that thumping sound and the pain in his chest. He had not understood that as the noise and pain seemed to disappear it meant he soon would be appearing before God!

Thump
Joe now knew he was in an ambulance headed for an emergency room at the nearest hospital. He wondered if he had waited too long. Would there be just one more thump of his heart…one last chance to ask Christ to forgive him?
Thump, Thump, Thump _____________________________________?
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