Kidney stones are the worst!

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who has been keeping me in prayer over the past couple weeks.  Don’t stop praying for me!  After two weeks of trying to manage the kidney stone issues on my own, the pain became so unbearable that I finally had to be admitted into the hospital.  Once there, they determined I had a ½” stone, which is twice the size that can be safely and normally passed by a human being.  (Actually, given the size, from now on we’re just going to call it what it is—a kidney brick!)  A surgical procedure was done to implant a stent that will help ultimately break down and remove the brick.  This will happen in about a week or two, once I can stabilize and get myself back to a sense of normal.

This entire experience has reminded me so much about how much we need God in our lives.  And it’s more than just throwing up a prayer and asking Him to help with the pain!  I’ve had a couple kidney stones in the past, and I’ve been able to manage and pass them without much difficulty, other than the accompanying pain.  But when your kidney stone becomes a kidney brick, you realize quickly you need help—you can’t do it alone!  That’s just like life.  We all go through a stage in life where we think we can get by on our own—perhaps that’s where you are right now.  But the truth is, we can’t. 

Romans 3:23 reminds us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  No matter how hard we try, we can’t reach a standard worthy of eternal life with God on our own.  But there’s help and hope!  The next verse, verse 24, reminds us, “And all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  Jesus lived for us to show us how to live an abundant life here on earth, and He died for us to make a way for eternal life.  All we have to do is put aside our stubborn insistence we can go it alone and instead put our trust in Him. 

 Just as I had to put aside my stubborn insistence that I could pass this brick on my own, without help (and believe me, it’s not biologically possible!), we are called to put aside our stubborn insistence that we can achieve holiness and righteousness on our own, instead putting our faith in Jesus to save us and show us how to live more abundantly than we could ever do alone.

Director of Student Ministries

Dana Miller