After receiving a diagnosis of an ascending aortic aneurysm, renowned pastor and writer Max Lucado has shifted his perspective. The diagnosis could be potentially fatal for Lucado, which initially left him with feelings of anxiety and fear. ““I spiraled. The first three or four days after I heard the diagnosis, I’m not proud of the anxiety level I permitted,” he told The Christian Post. Filled with fair, Lucado turned to God in prayer. God responded by giving Lucado a vision of His hand upon Lucado’s heart.

“It may sound supernatural or mystical, but I can’t deny that God gave me that vision. I believe His hand is on it, and it always was, even when I didn’t recognize it,” he said. While the aneurysm remains, so does the peace that God gave him through that vision. “I do not want to leave my family. I do not want to leave my precious wife. But I’m excited to see Jesus whenever that time comes. I really am at peace. That doesn’t mean I want to leave. I don’t. But I don’t have a bucket list. My best life is after this life. I’m very, very grateful for that blessing,” he said.

Doctors continue to monitor Lucado, but thankfully his aneurysm has not grown much since his initial diagnosis. In the meantime, Lucado is doing what he does best: sharing what he has learned from God. His new book, Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life, discusses strategies for “taking every thought captive,” as described in 2 Corinthians 10:5.

While the subject is personal to Lucado’s own experience, it’s also timely for the current cultural climate, where teens and adults are experiencing mental health crises. Lucado said he hopes to encourage people to turn away from intrusive thoughts. “You don’t have to think about everything you think. Just because a thought enters your mind doesn’t mean it deserves your attention,” he said. He encouraged Christians to replace those thoughts with Scripture. “We need to uproot the anxious, critical and destructive thoughts, and then replant truth in their place, using Scripture as the seed,” he said. “Whether it be feelings of insecurity, whether it be feelings of regret, whether it be feelings of grief, whether it be feelings of the world is out of control, whatever that particular blind spot is for a person, my prayer is that they say, ‘OK, I’ve got these three tools. I’m going to practice picky thinking. I’m going to identify those UFOs, and I’m going to uproot and replant, and I’m going to let God do what He wants to do, and that’s transform me by the renewal of the mind.’”