Lessons from the Valleys

Holding Onto the One Who Holds Onto You

By: Linda Kline

Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” What this encouraging verse doesn’t say is: “How long is that night?” and “When will it finally be morning?”

I spent the first half of 2024 going back and forth between West Chester Hospital and Cleveland Clinic. I have had two surgeries, endured multiple medical procedures, been jabbed with lots and lots of needles, and seen many, many specialists.

But this morning I sat on my deck in the sunshine and celebrated the fact that I am finally not in constant pain.

• I am not screaming on a regular basis.

• I am no longer losing terrifying amounts of blood.

• I am not constantly repeating a mantra of “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.” (Friends have recommended far more colorful language.)

• I am still weak and wobbly, and there are more appointments and treatments, and trips up to Cleveland Clinic ahead. But the tide has turned, and I am not nearly as incapacitated.

My heart breaks for friends and acquaintances who are also in pain. They hold so much physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and relational pain with the accompanying exhaustion, conflict, and questions.

If anyone tells you they have the definitive answer to the problem of pain, bless them and back away slowly. Beware of pat answers and anything stitched on a pillow or plastered on a bumper sticker or meme.

Job had the most amazing friends who “sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:13). The problem began when they decided they could explain what God was doing and why it was all Job’s fault.