It was 2:30 in the morning on a hot summer’s night. My wife was pregnant, and she woke me out of a sound sleep.
“Dwight, I can’t breathe!”
My mind was groggy and her words made no sense. What do you mean you can’t breathe? Just open your mouth and breathe.
My thoughts were interrupted when she threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, and ran down the hall.
I staggered after her trying to shake myself awake.
I found her in the living room with her mouth pressed up against our window air conditioner taking in great gasping breaths of air.
Weird, huh?
I thought/hoped it was a one off thing. But it wasn’t. It happened again. And again. And again. Pretty soon it was happening all the time. She couldn’t stay inside because it was too confining. She couldn’t go outside because miles and miles of atmosphere were pressing down on her.
Finally, we had the sense to go to the doctor. And he gave this thing that was happening to her a name:
Panic attacks.
Medication would help, he said.
So she took meds.
Trying to be a helpful husband, I recommended Bible verses. “Fear not for I am with you.” “The Lord is my light and my salvation. I will not be afraid.”
“Stand in front of the mirror,” I coached. “Say it like you mean it.”
Lucky for me she didn’t divorce me on the spot.
After a few weeks of this nonsense, God graciously gave me a panic attack or two of my own.
Oh.
I see.
I understood now why Bible verses couldn’t touch that.
Of course, we prayed. Individual prayer. Group prayer. Prayer chain prayer.
But if my wife went off her medication for a day or two, she could think of no good reason to remain alive.
About then, an old friend sent us a cassette tape about a Christian counselor who had discovered this special technique for inviting Jesus into things like panic. He was getting amazing results.
We listened to this cassette over and over again. And we decided that if half of what he was saying was true, we needed to check it out.
So two days after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, we sat in Steve’s office. I spent the first hour of our 90 minute appointment grilling Steve because I didn’t want him to damage my already fragile wife.
Satisfied with his answers, I stepped out.
I don’t know exactly what happened in the 30 minutes that followed, but I know my wife’s panic dropped almost to zero.
She was transformed. I met with Steve, and I was transformed. I shouldn’t really say we met with “Steve.” Yeah, Steve was in the room. But we met with Jesus.
And when Jesus walks in the room, everything changes.
Since then, I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you and everyone I know what’s possible when you really invite Jesus in. Most of the 30+ books I’ve written contain some variation of this message.
Whatever is going on in your life, Jesus really can drop the panic to zero, erase the shame, heal the hurts, reverse the rage, and replace try-hard religion with a beautiful journey of love, joy, and peace.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
