Husband was flat on his back in bed for two days.  He could only get up to hobble to the bathroom.  He even ate flat in bed.  He hurt his back weeding which is normally my job, but the thistles had gotten ahead of me and my hands were sore and swollen.

 

He stepped in to help.  The weeding progress accelerated exponentially.  . . until his back went out.  

Now it’s 1:00 am after two days in bed.

Dear Husband:  “You can’t go on like this.  I’m taking you to the Emergency Room right now.”
Me:  gasping, “No, you can’t drive.  I’ll be alright.”
Husband:  getting up, “You’re not alright.  You have a kidney stone.  We’re going.”
Me:  quietly resigned and a bit relieved, “I don’t know.  It just hurts awfully bad.”
Husband:  getting dressed with great difficulty, “Well, I know a kidney stone when I see one.  Let’s go.”

How he managed to drag himself to the car guiding me doubled over, I don’t know.  Every bump in the road on the half-hour drive to the hospital was agony for him.  Fortunately, one of us had grabbed an empty cardboard box on the way out of the garage, because it came in very handy for a sick stomach.  I haven’t had that level of pain since giving birth.  But I kept my heart set on God’s presence and just kept thanking him and calling out to him for help.  After what seemed like an endless trip, we arrived at the tiny hospital.  Every step was painful for Husband as he got me out of the car and helped me into the ER.  Then followed hours of sitting on an uncomfortable chair while I got some very welcome help.  Painkillers worked magic for me, but he was still miserable.   Finally, back at home shortly before dawn, he couldn’t sleep.

The next day, he pushed himself to care for me, even taking me to a larger, farther hospital which had an on-call urologist, when I thought another attack was coming on.  The bumpy roads helped me so much that I felt great by the time we got there and we decided not to go in!  The roads didn’t have the same effect on him.  Sigh.

Many of my readers have been nodding their heads in empathy with one or the other of us.  And all of us have experienced many kinds of pain.  Such is the common plight of humankind.  (I know well that husband and I have gotten off easy compared to so many who suffer great pain for decades.)  

So how should we think about pain?  Is it God’s fault?  Doesn’t he care?  Why doesn’t he prevent pain?

I certainly can’t answer this age-old question in one small article, but I can tell you what is helping me have a better understanding of what God is up to in our pain.

God is in charge and he sovereignly chooses to allow pain for our good and his glory.  But only in this life.  For those whose trust is in God’s Son, there is an eternal home waiting for us full of health, happiness, and pleasure.  Yet in this life, we grow by challenges.  When we go through the fire of pain, we can choose to hold onto God or to revile him. If we hold on, we come out the other end refined.  We’re better than before.  And we know God better. 

As Americans, we enjoy untold blessings and most of us give some kind of allegiance to God because of the blessings.  But what happens when the blessings are withheld?  Will we still hold onto God when our good things go away?  When our comfortable lives are interrupted?  Or did we love him only because he gave us good things?  Pain puts our faith to the test.  The pain of the loss of love, or security, or comfort, or health.  Will we cling to God?  Or when our blessings are stripped away, will we turn away? 

A whole book of the Bible is dedicated to the problem of pain.  We have a real-life hero as our model for facing pain of all kinds.  Job, a man who lived centuries before Jesus,  was a God-fearing man who did what was right.  God was pleased with him, yet God allowed terrible loss and pain.  We should never assume that bad things happen because we’re being punished.  

In the cosmic scope of things, Job’s faith (and ours) through the pain is a powerful affirmation of God against the forces of evil.  This genuine faith under testing speaks a loud and clear message to the universe that God has redeemed his people.

Take-Aways from Job

~Our enemy, Satan, kicks us when we’re down.  Often he hits us with more than one hard thing at a time.
~Hold onto God.
~Call out to God.  He’ll meet you in your frailty.  He’ll kindly show you more of himself.
~God can handle our complaints.  We don’t need to pretend we are ok.  He welcomes us to pour out our hearts to him.
~Don’t judge God.  It’s ludicrous for mere mortals to pass judgment on Almighty God, the Creator of the universe.  We don’t know better than God.  We should willingly submit to his will.
~Be a comforter. Don’t try to explain why this pain is happening to your friend.  We humans don’t know the why’s.  It just brings more pain to the suffering to give your opinion.  Simply give the gift of your time and attention. 

Job’s Own Words

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”  Job 1:20

“Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.  Job 2:10

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and he will stand upon the earth at last.
I will see him for myself.
Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!”  Job 19:25,27

 

 

 

“…when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.
For I have stayed on God’s paths;
I have followed his ways and not turned aside.
I have not departed from his commands,
but have treasured his words more than daily food.”  Job 23:10-12

  Update:  The days following the events above have been a time of testing.  Husband had the worst flare-up of an ongoing health issue in a decade, besides his back pain.  The side effects of several medications leveled me, among other things making it impossible to keep food down.  We had to fight the system for days to get an appointment with a urologist.  One of our daughters was preparing for/going through a mediation that would be a determining factor in their family life.  And through it all, not surprisingly, we felt the goodness of God continually.  Calls, emails, and visits from family and friends, little birds happily singing and doing acrobatic flying, the companionship of each other, getting to know new neighbors, beautiful clouds, funny photos sent by family and friends of children enjoying life, a safe, comfortable house (with a fridge!), Scriptures to feed our souls and put strength in our spirits, Jupiter shining brightly in our window above shifting cloudscapes, food to eat.  His sweet Presence and the people he sent to us were healing balm.  His creation whispered peace to us.

Update 2:  It’s 10:40 Wednesday night.  Just home from the hospital where they installed a stent to relieve pressure on the kidney.  In two weeks they’ll deal with the stone after the infection has cleared. We felt the kindness of so many staff members at the clinic and the hospital.  So thankful for God’s mercy.  So very thankful for a selfless Husband.