90 Minutes in Heaven_ A True Story of Death & Life - Don Piper [53]
An injury like that, he pointed out, is not forgiving. Once it gets messed up, it’s hard to fix it again.
This is part of my new normal.
Once after a visit to Dr. Tom Greider’s office, he asked me back into his private suite. Despite his busy caseload, I felt he was genuinely interested in me, and we talked about a lot of things.
On a whim I asked, “Tom, just how bad was I when they brought me in that night of the accident?”
He didn’t flinch. “I’ve seen worse.” He paused for a moment, leaned over his desk, and then continued, “but none of them lived.”
I’ve had to find different ways to do things. I am alive, however, and I intend to serve Jesus Christ as long as I remain alive. But I already know what’s ahead, waiting for me.
I’m ready to leave this earth anytime.
15
TOUCHING LIVES
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
2 CORINTHIANS 1:3–4
Sometimes I still ask God why I wasn’t allowed to stay in heaven. I have no answer to that question. I have learned, however, that God brings people into my life who need me or need to hear my message, giving me the opportunity to touch their lives.
One of the first times I was able to minister to someone as a result of my accident was when I was the guest preacher in a large church. They invited me specifically to talk about my trip to heaven. A woman who sat near the front and to my left began to weep shortly after I began to speak. I could see the tears sliding down her cheeks. As soon as we closed the meeting, she rushed up to me and clasped my hand.
“My mother died last week.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss—”
“No, no, you don’t understand. God sent you here tonight. I needed this kind of reassurance. Not that I didn’t believe—I did, but my heart has been so heavy because of the loss. I feel so much better. She is in a better place. Oh, Reverend Piper, I needed to hear that tonight.”
Before I could say anything more, she hugged me and added, “God also sent me here tonight because I needed this reassurance. Not that I didn’t believe and didn’t know—because I’m a believer and so was she—but I needed to hear those words tonight. I needed to know about heaven from someone who had been there.”
So far as I recall, she was the first to talk to me that way, but certainly not the last. I’ve heard this kind of response hundreds of times. It still amazes me that I can be a blessing to so many just by sharing my experience.
For those who already believe, my testimony has been reassuring; for skeptics, it’s opened them up to think more seriously about God.
Two years after the accident, when I still wore leg braces and walked with crutches, I took a group of our young people to a conference at Houston’s First Baptist Church. Dawson McAllister, a great teacher to youth, was the speaker. He’s so popular he fills up the place.
As happens when you work with teens, we were late in leaving South Park Church. I didn’t say anything, but I felt extremely irritated with the delay. I had wanted to arrive early because I knew the best seats would be taken if we didn’t get there at least an hour before starting time.
I tried not to let it show, but I was still upset by the time we reached First Baptist Church in Houston. Once we went inside the huge building, we realized—as I had expected—that all the seats on the lower floor were filled. We’d have to climb the stairs.
I groaned at the thought of having to do more walking. Even though I was mobile, wearing those braces and the pressure of the crutches under my armpits tired me out. To make it worse, the