God's in control so I'm not worried (about a heart attack)

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

A colleague’s husband had a heart attack a few days ago and was released out of hospital after a day or two and told to take it easy, he has been given medication. I said to the colleague that she must have been so worried, but she said she wasn’t, because she trusts God and she knows God is in control. I would have been terrified in her shoes. How do you actually have that kind of faith, and not worry? Can you have faith and still worry, or does that make you a terrible Christian?

I think everyone has different things that worry then.
I am a Christian. The aim it to trust in God. As Padre Pio said ‚Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.‘
That’s the aim. But the path there is not straight.

Of course it doesn't mean you're a bad Christian if you worry! I think it's perfectly possible to feel "at peace" in a stressful medical situation like that when you have a deep faith. It means that whatever happens your colleague was at peace with the fact that she believes God will comfort her and sustain her whatever the outcome of her husbands illness

I'd be placing more trust in the consultant if I'm honest

Can you have faith and still worry, or does that make you a terrible Christian?

You can have faith and still worry, yes. Christians vary in how they respond to medical things - and it is absolutely plausible that your colleague is worried in her own way. I don’t mean that she’s lying. I am trying to say I think having faith can make worry take a different form, a different sort of shape if you will. That’s my experience anyway.

I know in difficult situations I can lean on God to help me to psychologically survive the worrying bits, which is not quite the same as what your colleague is saying but it’s related. I tend to worry about immediate suffering and not so much about the bigger picture/outcome.

Prayers for your colleague and her husband, wishing him a speedy return to good health.

It's an active choice that you have to practice all the time, then it comes more easily in a crisis.

When troubling things happen you pray, take any action you can/need to, and then let it go. At times anxiety bubbles up again- you notice, pray/sigh, push it to one side and carry on.

There's a lot of what you could call 'fake it till you make it', but I'd see it more as practicing!

There's an underlying belief that God has a plan and we have a purpose, so when these things happen there is still hope and purpose. We just have to work it out. It avoids despair.

Religion gets a bad press among those outside it, but it has healthy attributes when done correctly!

Not worrying is difficult, but ultimately worrying isn't productive. I'm an atheist so for me, not worrying in the tough times is about putting my faith in the people who have expertise, setting aside the things I have no control over and making myself useful in those areas where I can achieve something positive. When my DC2 was hospitalised with appendicitis during lockdown and I could only see them for an hour each day, mindfulness and trusting in the experts caring for my DC was what helped me - it's faith of a different kind.

And you aren't a bad anything for worrying, because not doing so takes immense mental discipline, whether you are a believer or not.

So if it is all in gods hands why bother with antibiotics? Or life saving surgery? Or seatbelts? Or waiting for the green man when we cross a road?

Placing her faith in God at that time will probably have reduced her stress level, which is no bad thing.

As an atheist, I'd understand that 90 to 96% of heart attack folk survive so, yes I'd worry that my loved one may be one of the 10 to 4 % that dont, but I'd be optimistic that they could.

Sod all to do with god, everything to do with stats. So they may, or may not, be in the 90+%, but chances are they will be.

It can be a very bad thing.
My father had a severe heart attack.
My mother turned to her church- her, the congregation prayed for hours.
The pastor told my mother that if her faith was strong enough then my father would be spared.
My father died.
My mother still blames herself decades later.

I fail to see why that helps.

@speakout it can also lead parents to not seek medical help for their DC, which IMO should mean a jail sentence every time a child dies as a result.

Agreed. I've heard of JW not allowing blood transfusions for their children and don't understand why the kids aren't taken off them after.

There's a difference between taking practical steps and then choosing not to worry, and failing to respond appropriately to someone needing medical intervention.

There's a difference between choosing not to worry, and believing that someone will be healed. My approach is to choose not to worry and take all practical steps knowing that it could go either way.

Most people have their faith in God alongside appropriate medical intervention. It's not like this woman was just praying over her husband as he was having a heart attack.

So what does praying actually do then?
Assuming someone with an acute illness is accepting all the medical help- then what is the point of praying?
I know many christians that praying will somehow shift the odds in their favour?

If that isnt the reason then why?

TooBigForMyBoots · Today 12:02
Most people have their faith in God alongside appropriate medical intervention.

Faith in god to do what exactly?

What a daft attitude, even by religious standards. What if the heart attack was a warning sign from 'God', to actually make you worry about taking care of your health more and thereby avoid a further heart attack? Unless you think God is directly in charge of what you eat, how much exercise you do etc, how can he be entirely in control of whether you have a heart attack? I thought Christians believed that humans have free will!

Peace that surpasses all human understanding. Philippians 4:6
We walk in faith and that faith is tested as we grow spiritualy. Those who have matured spiritualy don't get easily shaken.
Their is a peace that we feel, this peace helps us not to sink into depression. Peace that only God can give. It's his way of saying am with you.

I can find peace without your god thanks.

That may be true for you, but it is not true for everyone. Show some humility.

I wrote Mature Christians, not every christian has matured spiritualy some of us are still growing. Growth takes years. When one says God is in control those words can come from tests they have gone through or it's just what words that Christians throw in air without experiencing what it means.

I wrote Mature Christians, not every christian has matured spiritualy some of us are still growing.

This comes off a teeny bit victim blamey. I mean, I'm an atheist so I don't care, but OP is already worried about not being a 'good enough' Christian.

she's just simple isnt she...ignorance is bliss!

A pragmatic believer will say

'antibiotics exist because that's God's doing'

'getting to the hospital in time was God's doing'

'having a space in theatre for the surgery was God's doing'

'the existence of those medical staff was God's doing'

'the surgeon not making any mistakes was God's doing'

'the illness/injury being treatable by surgery was God's doing'

and if it isn't successful or there was a car coming through at 70mph at the time they were crossing the road, the response would be 'It's sad, but be comforted by the thought they are with God now as was His Will'.

There's a joke about a bloke refusing rescue from a desert island, saying he's got God to save him until he dies, asking when he got to Heaven 'what happened, God?' and God replying something like 'I sent you a radio, two boats and a helicopter - what more did you want?'. That's the logic.

Relieve her of the burden of worry and anxiety, freeing her up to do the practical things that need to be done.