Being patient through the pain

Hi! Welcome to "In Other Words" for Tuesday, February 5th! Being patient with God is never easy so I chose this quote by Elisabeth Elliot. Enjoy!


"He [God] is very patient with us when we are trying to be patient with Him."

~ Elisabeth Elliott ~



One of the hardest things I ever had to do was to transport my two year old daughter to the hospital when she broke her arm. She had been playing with her sister and brother at the neighbor’s house and fallen eight feet through the stairway railing to the uncarpetted hallway floor below. My neighbor assessed her injury, then scooped her up and ran the few yards down the street to hand her to me.

It was obvious from the peculiar angle of her arm and the blood under the surface of the skin that it was broken and would need immediate attention. Fortunately, my husband was home at the time. He opened the car door and I gently eased myself inside, holding her to me to keep the arm immobilized.

She hurt so much, she was screaming and writhing with pain. Tears coursed down my cheeks. My heart wanted to scream too, but I had to remain patient and calm and murmur comfort to her through the twenty minute ride to the hospital emergency room.

Once there, I continued to hold her as the nurses took our information and prepared to x-ray her arm. “Can’t you give her something for the pain?” I pleaded but they just shook their heads.and told me to be patient.

An hour later (at least it seemed to be an hour!) they finally had the x-rays complete and began prepping my little one for surgery to set her arm. Then they were finally able to give her something to relax her and ease her pain. I had been holding her all this time to keep her as immobile and calm as possible. My arms ached as much as my heart for her.

Once she relaxed with the pre-surgery medications, I was finally able to lay her down on the gurney and weep as they wheeled her into the operating room. Because of the complexity of the break, she remained in the hospital for three days while I remained close by.

It was extremely difficult to remain patient as she thrashed about in pain during the ride to the ER and while waiting for everything to be ready for her surgery. It was hard to remain patient after the surgery while we waited to see if the bones would knit together properly. But I had to - for my daughter’s sake as well as for my own.

God reminded me of the lessons in patience many years later when I was going through difficult emotional issues. I writhed and cried out in pain, wanting my Abba to stop the pain. But He didn’t. He held me, whispering words of comfort, love and strength as He carried me through those times in His strong arms.

He was patient with me in my pain, just like I had to be patient with my daughter through her pain, until all things were set in motion for His healing plan. If He had simply removed my pain, there would have been no lasting changes in the way I related to people, no real healing, only a bandaid solution. So He held me close and let me know I was worth the time, energy and love He was investing into this healing process for me. Because of His closeness, I learned to trust my Abba in spite of the pain.
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