Bill Trout - What Possible Good?: Turning the Tables on Our Pain and Suffering, a Study of the Pain and Suffering, We All Face Living

2020 Bill Trout

What Possible Good?

Turning the Tables on Our Pain and Suffering

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Elm Hill, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Elm Hill and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

Elm Hill titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail .

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020900952

ISBN 978-1-400330928 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-400330935 (eBook)

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

T his book is dedicated to my true champion of pain and sufferingmy sweet wife Linda!

Most people not in the know would never guess what shes been through or going through at the moment. They would think that she didnt have a care in the world just by observing her ever-present smile and positive attitude! However, I can positively attest to the fact that it is not due to the absence of pain, but rather because she has learned to suffer well by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Through it all she has done much more than survive. She has thrived as she has grown spiritually with an ever-increasing faith and trust in her God! I can also attest to the fact that she is definitely not a complainer since I know that not a single day goes by that she is not dealing with some level of pain, but you would not know it.

Heres a brief rundown of Lindas many battle scars: Linda has endured nearly a dozen spinal surgeries in as many years! She continues to suffer daily with constant back and leg pain due to chronic spinal stenosis and degenerative disk disease. Weve lost count of the number of steroidal spinal injections and attempts at nerve ablation in her spine. Her future will very likely include additional spinal surgeries.

Linda has also struggled for over twenty years from symptoms related to an autoimmune deficiency called mixed connective tissue disease. Some of the symptoms include systemic features of lupus, fibromyalgia, and a variety of other painful joint and muscle issues. Most recently Linda has become a cancer survivor, having completed intensive radiation therapy after successful breast cancer surgery.

Lindas personal response to the often-asked question of Why me? is simply, Why not me? She doesnt seek sympathy. In fact she is known to typically respond when asked, How are you doing? by saying with a smile, I am just delightful! This response has turned into a running joke among her close friends. They will often answer their own question about how she is doing today with, We know youre just delightful! My knowing how much pain she daily endures recently led me to ask her if she was really being totally honest in her response about her being just delightful. She said, In spite of my pain, I am choosing to not let my pain dictate my attitude or impact how I interact with others.

She went on to say, Im not saying it is easy. However, my prayer is that by choosing to be delightful in the midst of my pain, I will encourage others to choose to be delightful as well. It is so important to not let anything, even pain and suffering, steal my joy in the Lord!

In the midst of Lindas long journey with health issues, we have often looked at each other and asked simultaneously, Whats next? Regardless of whats next, Linda will continue to add to the list of the many reasons I call her my true champion of pain and suffering! However, she will always be the first to tell you that she owes it all to her own true champion, Jesus Christ, her Lord and SaviorHe is first in her life in all things!

A s a preface to this book, I would like to share that my writing is grounded primarily in the spiritual aspects of my own journey through pain and suffering. I have personally found the most powerful moments of spiritual growth in my life have come during times of trials. During these times I have held on to Gods hand and have seen firsthand his faithfulness in turning bad things into good things.

My prayer is that God may be glorified through what he has done for me and all of us! I also want us to grasp that this world is not our home, but rather it is our spiritual training ground or boot camp. God has never promised us that our life on earth would be a rose garden, yet he does promise us a permanent and glorious one after this life is over.

Gods purpose for us now is that in the midst of pain and suffering, we will share the fragrance of his faithfulness with others! We will do this as we await the glorious return of his Son and our Savior Jesus Christ when everything will be changed and be made new! No more pain and suffering!

The preparation and effort put into writing this book have not been just a theoretical exercise for me. As I write this book, I am speaking from my heart with conviction of what God has done to repurpose my life as a result of my pain and suffering. He can do the same for all of us through our trust in him! I am not unfamiliar with extremely painful situations and trials.

I want to share upfront some of my own trials that God has faithfully brought me through. I was sexually assaulted several times as a ten-year-old boy by a seventeen-year-old young man who lived in our home for a while at the invitation of my well-meaning parents. They were never aware of any of this until years later when I shared with them what had happened. They were obviously both shocked and grieved by what had happened to their young son.

Shortly after that teenage boy moved out, I developed a strong addiction to pornography which continued through my early adulthood years. After twenty-five years from the time of the abuse, I was still struggling to hang on then I hit rock bottom, seeing no reason to go on. From the pit that I was in, there was nowhere to look but upto God. So, I surrendered my life completely to him and he lifted me up, showing me his grace! And he has continued to walk with me daily.

Through the years I participated in an early failed marriage. Also, I experienced health issues including seven kidney stones and lower spine issues and survived both skin and prostate cancer.