More Precious Than Gold

When I was a little boy I really looked up to my grandfather. He was such a colorful fella! One time he called me over to show me something he had in his pocket. (Kids love it when grandpas have something hiding in their pocket.) He pulled out a piece of solid gold! It was a $500 gold coin, to be exact. I'd never seen that much gold all in one piece. I asked him if it was real, so he bit it just to show me the mark of his teeth on this soft, precious metal.

I've always been drawn to Peter's story. He failed many tests, but he repented and kept following Jesus. By the time Peter was an old man he had learned the value of being tested by God. In fact, he learned to treasure the testings. He said they were precious -- more precious than gold.

My story? How long do you have?

Well, I'm happy to be alive. What started as a knee surgery in July of 2025 turned into blood clots in my lungs. I was in the ICU four days just wondering what would happen. Would I live or die? Three days into my ICU stay they gave me lung surgery and, by the grace of God, they saved my life. The Lord is to be praised, and I am so grateful for His unending love.

In my little tribulation I was showered with grace from God..

Grace is like a gift. We often define grace as "unmerited favor". If you came to my house to celebrate one of my kid's birthdays, perhaps we'd prepare "favors" to give to all the guests before they left. We could say that those gifts are unmerited favors. They aren't expected, they aren't earned, and they're really cool! Grace from God is when God gives us anything from Himself as a gift to us.

And boy does God know how to give gifts.

I received amazing graces from God in my suffering, so much that I view the whole thing as a net positive experience. Or, to borrow Peter's words, the gifts the God gave me throughout my stay in the ICU were more precious to me than gold.

Let me share them with you...

Maybe a month before all this went down, I was teaching a Bible study at my church anchored in Romans 5. Verses 3-5 are stunning. They tell us that believers, when they suffer, can boast in the Lord and that they won't ever be ashamed in their boasting. It really fascinating that no matter what I go through, I can always glory in the Lord and I'll never eat my words.

One of the things God promises the believer as they face trials is that the Holy Spirit will pour God's love into our hearts as we suffer. That is, when we suffer we are promised that the Spirit of God will work double-time to help us know that God loves us!

As I laid in that bed not knowing what the future would look like, or if I even had a future, it happened. I can't tell you why. I didn't read something, or have a profound thought that led me to this moment. I was just laying there feeling terrible when I just knew, in a powerful way, that God loves me. There was no audible voice, no signs and wonders, just the work of the Spirit moving in me to know that I am not alone and the my Jesus loves me.

I laid there crying and all I could say was, "Thank You. Thank You. Thank You."

I’m convinced that I’ve never had more people praying for me than I did during that stay. The people of God prayed, they travelled from out of town, they wept with me, they read Scripture to me, they took care of my wife and kids, they donated money.

I told one of my nurses that I have a wonderful church family. She said, "Oh cool. That's good community." I didn't tell her, but I hate the reduction of the church that is so popular today. The church is not just a style of community, it is the body of Christ. There's something supernatural going on in the church that supersedes the power of a village or a CrossFit community or a country club.

The people of God, filled with the Spirit, ministered to me like angels from Heaven.

My sweet daughter, Adelaide, likes to put the word "little" in front of things she says. She'll say, "Daddy, let's just go for a little walk." The night before my surgery, my wife had gone home to care for the kids for a while. Adelaide was talking to her and said something amazing to me. My wife texted it to me, and this is what it said...

Yeah, you guessed it, it wrecked me. Bawling like a little baby I prayed to God, "That's all I want, Lord."

Out of the mouth of babes...

We've talked about grace - the unmerited, undeserved gifts of God's favor. Common grace is the grace God gives to all. Christians are given special grace all the time, but God doesn't merely grace Christians. He gives common grace to all. Everyone can enjoy a beautiful day. Everyone can enjoy a ripe peach, or delight in a puppy, or feel inspired by a sunrise.

As I was being wheeled to the surgical room a lady emerged in my life. I don't know her. I don't know if she is a Christian, an atheist, a Muslim, or whatever. She wore a mask and cap for surgery. All I know is that God made her in His own image (See Genesis 1:26-27). As I laid there exposed, in pain, in fear this lady would lean down near my face. She looked me in the eyes and gave me mercy.

I learned that grace is good no matter where it comes from. I learned to give God the glory for His common grace. When you're on the chopping block you'll take grace however it comes, and I praise God for those merciful eyes.

Memento Mori means "Remember that you have to die". I know, sooo encouraging, right? Many people have designated some object or made some form of art to remind them of death. The most famous is a human skull or a venomous snake. The idea is not to be gruesome or scary or morbid, the idea is to remind the living to make the most of their life!

As a follower of Christ I recall what He said in John 9...

There was a lot of death talk. And even after the whole episode I keep hearing story after story of people who had exactly what I had, but didn't make it out like I did. It reminded me that the breath in my lungs is a gift, and that life is a vapor, and that I must be busy about my Father's business.

That kind of reminder is precious.

When the surgeon was finished they placed the blood clots on a panel to show them to me. He came over and said, "Mr. Birdsong, these clots are new, but those clots are old." I won't bore you with too many medical details, but before I had knee surgery I had blood clots just hanging out in my lungs undetected.

God knew. It may be that He allowed these things to occur simply to reveal to me the danger I was in. Either way, I know that God knows all and I give Him the credit for revealing the old and the new clots to save my life.

Sometimes we can be discontent with the lives we have. And we can spiritualize it, even. We think, "God, if things were just different I'd be more useful to You."

I don't know why, but as I came out of the hospital it occurred to me in a fresh way that this is my life. I was born when I was born with the genes that I have because this is life God intended for me. What I mean is that God actually knows my life and has intended it, so why would I not settle into it?

Like Goldilocks, I've often been looking for something better. I've felt in bones that I was destined for some great thing. Well, maybe I am and maybe I'm not. What I do know is that the life God gave me is just right. 

My friend, I'm no wise sage. I'm just a young pastor who's been given something precious. Please allow me to offer some advice...

1. You need a personal relationship with God.
2. You need a good church.
3. Learn what God's will is and do it.
4. Thank God for His special and common graces.
5. Remember that death is coming, so aim every breath for the Kingdom of God.
6. Trust the all-knowing One. You might not understand WHY God is doing the things He’s doing, but never doubt if He’s doing it wisely.
7. The life you have is the life you’ve been given, so live it for Christ.

- Pastor Keith Birdsong