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Coronary Stents

Al Weir, MD

July 12, 2022
06212022WEEKLYDEVO

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself…” (Matthew 6:34, NIV).

I was leaving my house for a grandson’s baseball game when I spotted a neighbor coming in from a run. He is a 40-year-old Christian high school teacher whose many children fill our cove with laughter each day. “How’d you do?” I asked. “Great! It was my best pace in a long time. First time I’ve run since my stent.” He paused and realized, “You didn’t know I had a stent put in three days ago. 80 percent blockage of my LAD. They found it somehow when they were checking out my thyroid. Never had a symptom.” “Praise God, what a miraculous find,” I said. “You need to tell your students.” “I did,” he answered, “Told them we can never be sure about tomorrow; that God is good, that we need to live each day the best we can.”

How many of us live with the assumed surety of tomorrow and fail to make the most of today? This young father is unlikely to make that mistake again.

I am the chief of sinners1 when it comes to missing the moment—the only moment I am guaranteed to live. I am constantly thinking of the next step, how to get past the present one to get there. Almost always the future steps I seek are good, but my dwelling on them frequently diminishes God’s plan for the moment.

If I am ever to show love, it is in the moment. If I am ever to listen to my wife, it is in the moment. If I am ever to nurture my children and grandchildren, I must hear them in the moment they choose to speak. If I am ever to enjoy the life God has given me, it is in the moment. If I am ever to touch the suffering, it is in the moment. If I am ever to hear God whisper, it is in the moment. If I am ever to worship, it is in the moment. If I am ever to witness for Christ, it is in the moment. If I am ever to trust God for my future, it is in the moment.

It seems that the value of life always lies in a moment I am running through to grab a future that is always one step ahead. So how do I change?

Dear God,
Help me focus on today and trust you to plan tomorrow.
Amen

11 Timothy 1:15

Al Weir, MD

Al Weir, MD

After leaving academic medicine, Dr. Weir served in private practice at the West Clinic in Memphis, Tennessee from 1991-2005 before joining the CMDA staff as Vice President of Campus & Community Ministries where he served for three years from 2005-2008. He is presently Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Program Director for the Hematology/Oncology fellowship program. He is also President of Albanian Health Fund, an educational ministry to Albania where he has been serving for 20 years. He is the author of two books: When Your Doctor Has Bad News and Practice by the Book. Dr. Weir’s work has also been published in many medical journals and other publications. Al and his wife Becky live in Memphis, Tennessee, and they have three children and three grandchildren. Dr. Weir is currently serving on CMDA's Board of Trustees.

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