When we are going through suffering, we don’t usually think, “Hmm, what treasures might God have for me to discover here?”

It just feels like suffering.

However, author and major stroke survivor, Katherine Wolf, has a message for us: God has gems for us to find in the darkness. “If you have to go through hardship, why not get the treasure? My goodness, don’t waste the pain,” she says.

What else do we talk about?

• What exactly are these “treasures” anyway?
• How should we respond to our friends’ immediate suffering?
• What if we are in a major depressive season? Is there hope for us? 
• What if we don’t think our struggles are worth even naming as “suffering”? 
• What steps can we take in the midst of a hard season to find hope?
  
  

// Highlights:

• “Before we can ever accept the circumstances of our life, we have to go through the process of grieving the life we thought we should have had.” --Katherine Wolf
• “The gift we can give one another as the body of Christ is to sprint toward one another’s pain and suffering.” --Katherine Wolf
• “We need to remember that we are called and assigned to our stories.” --Katherine Wolf
• “What saved my life was the logic of it all: If I should have died, I would have died. I did not die, therefore God has purpose in my being in this body and on this planet in this moment.” --Katherine Wolf
• “We need less people telling you what to think in the pain and more just being with you in the pain.” --Katherine Wolf
  
  

// Question of the Week:

What two random things are in your junk drawer right now? 

// Do the Next Thing:

• Katherine’s amazing new devotional/reflection book? Find it here
• Follow Katherine on IG here
• Join the HIMH FB group here
• Follow Laurie on IG here
• Email us with thoughts or questions at podcast@lauriekrieg.com
• Watch it here