January 12, 2007 by admin.

It looks like a grain of sand. It feels like a boulder. How can anything so tiny cause so much pain? To an oyster a grain of sand is an intruder and an irritant, but it eventually turns into a pearl. To me that grain of sand was renal calculi, commonly known as a kidney stone. Can anything valuable come from such an irritant in a human being? Not in the natural, but nothing is impossible for God. He can turn what is normally an excruciating experience into the miraculous.

My healing was miraculous. After unbearable pain drove me to be hospitalized on August 4, 2006, a CT scan revealed a 2-3mm kidney stone descending from my left kidney and two more the same size in my right kidney along with a pocket of calcification. The left stone exited that night and the pain stopped. I prayed and kept reminding myself that God’s Word says He won’t give us more than we can bear.

September and October drifted by uneventfully, but by early November all the discomfort and pressure and other symptoms of stone passage were back in full force. The next CT scan revealed that the stones had grown to 5mm each! I began to wonder how awful one that large would feel if a 2mm was excruciating. Here’s where God stepped in with power. My last CT scan on December 11 showed…nothing! No stones, no pocket of calcification, nothing in either kidney. I do have one of the stones so I know of a certainty that it passed painlessly on December 4.

Throughout my 25-year Christian journey, a little phrase has kept me going when things got tough or painful or frustrating. I once heard a preacher say that in the Bible are the words “and it came to pass.” He then said, “Just remember, it didn’t come to stay…it came to pass.” For me it came to pass with a miracle this time.

Vivian Butler

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January 12, 2007 by PastorMark.

Discouragement is no respecter of persons. You can be rich or poor and be discouraged. You can be healthy or sick and be discouraged…etc. In my years as a pastor, I have never had anyone tell me, “I have never struggled with discouragement.”

I love the psalms. David, the author of most of the psalms, revealed his heart to God and to us as he wrote. He didn’t feel the need to “protect his image;” he simply wrote what he felt. In Psalm 42 we see David’s struggle with discouragement. I want us to catch the powerful insights from this psalm—especially his summary statements in verses 5 and 11 which are identical. They are: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

It’s OK to ask why. But David doesn’t ask, “Why, God?” but rather “Why…O my soul?” Whenever I start getting down, I search my heart and ask myself what the cause could be. Here are some of the reasons I have come up with as to why discouragement sometimes latches onto us: We get hit by sudden trials such as a big expense or difficult health issue. We dwell on past defeats and failures. We compare ourselves with others who seem to “have it so good.” We put our hope in people, and they let us down. We allow ourselves to set unrealistic expectations, and they don’t materialize. There are so many things in life that could keep us discouraged—if we let them.

David would not stay down. By asking why of himself, he was seeking discernment. Someone once said, “In times of trial, doubt your doubts; don’t doubt your faith.” In other words, once you perceive why you are discouraged, fight back with faith. You don’t have to give in and listen to the old nature that tries to feed you gloom and negativity with, “God doesn’t really care about you; life will always be this way.” By God’s grace, you can leave the “pity party” (who really wants to have a party with the pits anyway?). There’s a way out.

David said, “Put your hope in God.” Hope doesn’t just happen. It comes as a result of placing your life in God’s hands. Hope grows as we look up and consider the character of God. In verse 4 of Psalm 42, David spoke of “pouring out” his soul to the Lord. God receives the cry of our heart and begins the healing process, which then results in true hope.

One last thing about discouragement: we must take action. Just sitting around and rationalizing with discouragement is fruitless. Although he was struggling, David proclaimed, “For I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” It’s not easy to praise God when you don’t feel like it. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. As we choose the act of thanksgiving and praise, we begin to focus on our source of strength. The things that go wrong take a back seat, and joy starts to seep back into our soul. Notice, David praised “my” Savior and “my” God. Yes, He really is a personal God. He knows “where we are” even when we’re “down in the dumps.” Do your part by looking to Him and praising God, and you will discover that He is sufficient to pull you up and through. God bless you!

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