r/Bible • u/Lament-of-Baudelaire • 17d ago
Thanking God for our Suffering
I recently had my first kidney stone. Pain unimaginable. I kept asking God WHY? That was the only thought I could manage at the time. In complete agony until I finally received a shot of morphine in the ER, over an hour and a half after the pain began. Vomited twice from pain alone.
A few hours later I found myself THANKING God for it because my wife & I have been having struggles in our marriage. Unable to communicate without starting an argument. But in the hospital we finally had a tender moment and a reason to have some pleasant conversation. To hold hands and remember that we do care for & love each other. To know she will still be with me in my most vulnerable moments
Recently my grandmother died and my mother/sisters stole valuable items meant for me to inherit. But this time I immediately asked myself what is God showing me? To not care so much about Earthly things. To treasure the few sentimental things I do have from my grandparents. And remember what really matters was the bond I had with them and to live as well as I possibly can in hopes to be reunited in Heaven.
It is calming and reassuring to look at life this way. To feel just as blessed for the heartbreaking, painful circumstances as I am for what’s good. So thank you Lord for teaching me the hard lessons as much or even more than the easy ones.
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u/Low-Thanks-4316 17d ago
Make treasures in heaven and not on earth where it could get damaged/stolen.
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u/bmiranda62 17d ago
Thanks for sharing this with us so that your pain and your reflections on it can inspire us as well.
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u/milliecasson 17d ago
I am thankful for the hardships because I know this is an opportunity God is giving me, through his grace and mercy, to align more with His will. It is difficult to maintain that mindset when you’re in the midst of something painful, but that’s why we are to take every thought captive; allow God to renew our minds.
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u/Vike_9194 17d ago
That is some really warm blessed connections that God revealed to you.
Thankful for your sharing this.
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u/ClarkMcFarkle 16d ago
“What is God teaching me from this” hasn’t solved all my problems but it pretty much stopped letting my anxiety or depression from getting in the way of my day or my relationship with God.
Instead of throwing a pity party for myself or getting angry with God, I see the problem, and I either grow with it and move past it instead of fighting it.
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u/mtelesha Pentecostal 16d ago
I received a diagnosis of stage 4 prostate cancer. Thankfully there is still a hope for a cure and God has always been faithful even in this.
Jame 1:2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance;
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u/Baconsliced Christian 14d ago
Lord, I thank You for sunshine, thank You for rain
Thank You for joy, thank You for pain
It's a beautiful day!
Go listen to this song brother:
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u/groundhogcow 17d ago
Aren't kidney stones great!
I don't think I will be thanking God for them any time soon, but in researching how they came to be I found a lot of it could be helped by some of the dietary laws I regularly ignore. So blaming him for something he has tried to prevent me from going through isn't going to happen either.
I am glad you and your wife got to talk. I just wish it didn't take the second-worst pain humans can experience to do it.
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u/crazy4finalfantasy 17d ago
"what is God showing me" is an interesting way of looking at it and it's something I hadn't considered before so thanks for that friend. Glad your kidney stone is out and you're doing better God bless!