![]() A life changing diagnosis of my oldest living daughter. Maybe those seasons of pain paved the way for a steady determination to keep pressing on in the aftermath of losing my only son. I think back to the times of hardship that came before Chance was born. Experiencing deep suffering builds in us the ability to keep going, to press on in patience, to persevere, to endure.Īnd it’s true. While the suffering itself is not necessarily a gift, what God accomplishes in our life through suffering certainly is. The New Living Translation says it this way, “ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.” In the New International translation the same verse states, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance ” In the Message translation, Romans 5:3 is translated, “T here’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us. And that means, yes, God uses my suffering for His kingdom purposes and for my good. But if I believe Scripture to be true, then all of it is true. At first my flesh wanted to reject this idea because, well, how in the world does birthing and burying your dead son translate to a gift? Surely not. As I sat in my heartache over those next few weeks and months, God gently reminded me, through His Word and fellow believers, that there just might be a gift in this time of pain, a gift in this suffering. ![]() Pregnancy and infant loss meet this definition. The dictionary describes suffering as the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship. Yet, when the phone stopped dinging and the casseroles stopped appearing, and I could finally well, just stop, it was then that the heaviness of our loss was truly felt, really felt for the first time. A few days later he was born, and a few days after that we honored his life with a small graveside service. One day, we learned our son had passed away. Things had moved too fast up to that point to process the magnitude of what had just occurred. It wasn’t until many days after the burial of my son that I began to feel the deep grief and suffering. Explorer young woman with backpack going up on hill outdoor.
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