I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. – Ezekiel 37:6
By Beverly Lomosad
Mark Morrow, senior pastor and founder of Crosswalk Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, hit the gym at 5:15am on March 8, 2021 for his regular workout routine. He had just gotten off the treadmill when he suddenly collapsed from a massive heart attack. Paramedics found him lying on the gym floor unresponsive when they arrived. They shocked his chest six times before his pulse returned. When intubation failed, his brain went without oxygen for 33 minutes. He flatlined three times while enroute to and in the hospital. From the smaller Williamsburg hospital, where emergency staff managed to resuscitate him, Mark was quickly airlifted to a Level 2 Trauma Center 20 miles away. There, he was put on a ventilator and medically induced coma. Doctors told his family he might not wake up. And, if he did, chances are he would not be the same person because of the length of time his brain had been without an oxygen. Even Pam, Mark’s wife, acknowledged that, seeing him in the hospital for the first time, “it was like looking at a dead body.” Despite the grim prognosis on Mark, she kept her hopes up, saying: “I just couldn’t give up hope. I knew I could stand on who God is: He is the healer (Exodus 15:26). He is in control.” Family members, joined by their friends and church community, united in prayer for Mark’s healing.
God’s answer came on Day 3 following Mark’s heart attack. In what was like a Lazarus moment (John 11:1-44), he awoke from a comatose state when the doctor called his name. He recovered on such a fast and steady pace his medical team began calling him the Miracle Man. He showed no signs of brain damage or heart problems. On Day 6, he greeted his congregation by live video from his hospital bed during a Sunday church service, waving with two hands and showing what he had scribbled on a piece of paper, “God must not be finished with me yet!” On Day 9, he was cleared to go home.
John Chapter 11 of the Bible opened with a story set in a Bethany home, where there were two sisters, Martha and Mary, and a brother, an ailing Lazarus. The sisters sent word to Jesus, who was about 20 miles away, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Hearing about Lazarus, Jesus said: “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Then He stayed two more days where He was. Jesus was near Bethany when Martha ran out to meet Him, lamenting, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus was four days late. Lazarus had been dead. Lazarus had been buried. But, is anything too hard for Jesus? He asked to be taken where Lazarus was laid to rest. There, He called Lazarus forth from the tomb, and the man came out alive. Jesus is the source of life (John 1:4, John 10:10). He is life itself (John 11:25, John 14:6). He can breathe life afresh to where there is none in any human situation (Ezekiel 37:1-14).
CALL TO ACTION
A life with God starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
- PRAY OUT LOUD: “Father in heaven, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I believe that he died on the cross for my sins. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sins. I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Savior and Lord. Amen.”
- WHAT’S NEXT: Be part of a good, Bible-based church.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the New International Version of the Bible.