Joy in Trials

Trials are NOT fun. Most times, they are painful and full of heartache. We cry out "Where is God? If only we would cry out "What are you trying to show me God?" "What are you trying to teach me"

David, a 2-year old with leukemia, was taken by his mother, Deborah, to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to see Dr. John Truman who specialized in treating children with cancer and various blood diseases. Dr. Truman's prognosis was devastating: "He has a 50-50 chance." The countless clinic visits, the blood tests, the intravenous drugs, the fear and pain--the mother's ordeal can be almost as bad as the child's because she must stand by, unable to bear the pain herself. David never cried in the waiting room, and although his friends in the clinic had to hurt him and stick needles in him;  he hustled in ahead of his mother with a smile, sure of the welcome he always got. When he was three, David had to have a spinal tap--a painful procedure at any age. It was explained to him that, because he was sick, Dr. Truman had to do something to make him better. "If it hurts, remember it's because he loves you," Deborah said. The procedure was horrendous. It took three nurses to hold David still, while he yelled and sobbed and struggled. When it was almost over, the tiny boy, soaked in sweat and tears, looked up at the doctor and gasped, "Thank you, Dr. Tooman, for my hurting." - Monica Dickens, Miracles of Courage, 1985.

If only we could say "Thank you God, for my hurting." My FAVORITE "attitude" verse in the Bible is Gen 50:20. Joseph is talking to the same brothers who sold him into slavery. He says "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

Dear God, Thank you for the goodness you bring out of our "hurting" - Love YOU! - rejoicing in the present