Errol's joy could brighten any rainy day.
Errol was born in Swaziland, grew up in South Africa, and lived the fast life. From a very young age, his fierce determination would allow him to achieve anything he wanted, no matter what anybody ever said otherwise. By his twenties, he was a successful businessman, he did what he wanted, and he knew how to enjoy the finer things in life.
Only he was missing one thing – the love of Jesus.
He saw himself as a satanist. He worshipped Satan. But this is not what God wanted for his life. And unbeknownst to Errol at the time, this is not what he wanted either.
When Errol was 28, he heard his roommate call his name while he was trying to sleep. He ignored it. He heard him call a second time. Again he ignored it. A third time.
"What do you want?" He replied, turning to his roommate.
"I didn't say anything.."
Confused, Errol tried to go back to sleep. But he heard his name called a fourth time – only this time, it was different. He knew it was God calling his name. And this time, it came with a vision. An intensely scary vision. In this vision, he saw his car overturned on the side of the road, it's tires in the air. His body lay on a rock next to it, completely naked and bloody. Suddenly a bolt of lightning striked the rock and he woke from the vision. The scariest part however, is that God told him this would happen tomorrow at half past 3.
The next day, Errol is sweating in anxiety – doubtful he even slept a wink. But he has an engagement that day around 4. Afraid to drive his car, he calls all his friends and family to pick him up, only to be turned down due to various reasons. Whatever, it was just a dream. Right?
He gets in his car with his younger brother and drives off. After a while, he comes to the road he envisioned in his dream and his vision flashes before his eyes. Blinded by the vision, next thing he knows his car is flying through the air, upside down. A nearby pedestrian sees the accident and pulls him out of the car. As Errol is laying there on the side of the road, he looks down at his bloody body and is horrified. He can't move his legs, he can't move his arms. He spinal cord had been severed at the C6 and C7 vertebrae, paralyzing him from the neck down.
In the chaos and fear, Errol has another vision. This time he is up in the air, looking down at the scene of the accident and at his lifeless body bleeding out. But he's flying away, further and further away, but he doesn't know where. What he does know is that he is overcome by fear, a massive, immense fear. He knows wherever he is going, it is not a good place. And he hears another voice, a voice telling him to pray the prayer that his grandfather had taught him every night when he was a young boy. It was the Lord's prayer.
But he couldn't remember the words, it as so long ago! He recited what he could recall –
"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven-"
Suddenly he found himself back in his body, looking up at the sky, gasping for air. It was in this moment he knew God was real and received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
————
He awoke in the hospital the next day as if it had been a bad dream, but he knew it was all too real. The doctor told him he was a vegetable and gave him 3 months to live. His lungs had collapsed and was completely dependent on a ventilator to breathe for him for the rest of his short life. But remember Errol's determination?
He knew this wasn't the way he was going down. He knew this wasn't what God planned for him, and if he was going to go out, he was going to go out fighting. One month passed before he told his doctors to take his ventilator off. So they took it off. A moment passes.. Can't breathe. 3 seconds. Still can't breathe. 5 seconds must've felt like an eternity. But Errol was determined, and after God knows how long, his lungs kicked in and he took his first breath. His second breath. He was breathing on his own!
This was 16 years ago. 3 months to live, and here he is 16 years later at the age of 44, happy as a clam. What's more, 3 years ago he regained movement in his arms and hands! He jokes it was because he needed to swat away the mosquitoes from his face. It's funny, but when you actually think about the fact that he couldn't even do that for 13 years… I can't think of anything more cruel and unusual.
But as tragic as Errol's story sounds, he tells it as a story of rejoicing. Because to him, a short 44 years of temporary and relatively mild sorrow and pain is no comparison to eternal and absolute agony, and certainly nothing compared to forever, everlasting life in heaven with God.
Whatever God has planned for the rest of Errol's life, I know it will be great. One day a friend brought him the newspaper, and to his surprise, Errol found himself on the front page – an award for "Best Patient" at his hospital. It's incredible to think – stuck in a hospital bed, how many lives he's been able to touch.
His story is remarkable. But it is not his story that draws visitors to his room everyday, it is simply his joy. His genuine and abundant joy is infectious and will bring a smile to your face no matter what your day had looked like before you walked into his room. To see someone who could be so happy everyday, who can joke around and smile, who can find the positive in any circumstance despite his unfortunate situation.. that is something of God.
When you see Errol, you see that his joy is only because of Jesus. It was knowing Jesus that kept him from giving up, that kept him striving for life, that kept him going. It was only when God took away everything, that he realized God was his everything. I see God loved Errol so much that He could not see him living the way he had been. God brought him back like the prodigal son, and gave him more love than he had ever experienced in his life. And though there was much pain involved for Errol to return to his father, like the prodigal son, he will be welcomed in heaven with open and loving arms.
