This morning I received a text message from a young girl of my acquaintance. She is 15 and has a lovely and growing faith.

Hi Frances. Just wanted to let you know that I am currently in hospital and have been since Wednesday due to severe abdominal pain. I didn’t tell you earlier because I thought I would be out of hospital much earlier. This morning I am going into theatre for an operation so they can try and find the cause [of] the pain…But apart from this I am doing well. I hope you are OK? Have a really nice day.

What an inspiration, I thought. Undergoing a pretty frightening experience, here is a young lady whose entire outlook, as those last three sentences show, is cheery hope and grace.

When bad things happen we all have a choice about how we will respond. Of course suffering needs to be acknowledged – it’s a downright falsehood that being a faithful Christian means pretending that things are fine when they’re not. God doesn’t mind us expressing sorrow or asking for help – apart from anything else, it keeps our hearts true and humble.

But in the midst of pain and suffering, we each are given a choice: to look inward with self-pity, or to look outward with thankfulness and faith. One feeds the old man, the other feeds the new man. One comes naturally, the other often goes against the grain and requires a determination to seek God for grace. One indulges sin, the other produces a harvest of righteousness (Heb 12:11), perseverance, character, hope (Rom 5:3-4), patience, completeness (James 1:3-4) and glory to the Lord Jesus (1 Pet 1:6-7).

None of us knows how we will respond in such circumstances until they arrive, for faith is not really faith until it is put to the test. But we can all invest in our relationships with God daily (2 Pet 1:5-7) so that when times of trial come, our faith will be proven “of greater worth than gold” (1 Pet 1:7). Like the hymn-writer Horatio Spafford, who suffered unimaginable personal tragedy, we will be able to confidently say “Even so, it is well with my soul”.¹

My young friend is under anaesthetic as I write. Her attitude is a beautiful testament to the new life God has been birthing in her. There is nothing quite like sensing the sweet aroma of Christ in the midst of difficulty. Here’s hoping the doctors and nurses recognise it too.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Author: Frances Rabbitts

Notes

1 Read Horatio's story here.