I awoke to a sharp pain in my stomach. It was the middle of the night in a rural and remote Asian village. The house was cold. Of course it was, it stood on stilts and there were no doors or windows. Speaking of which there were no bathrooms or latrines either. Not a single one in the entire valley. I resolved to find a bush to release the impending beast.
I grabbed my flashlight, climbed out of the mosquito net, and hurried down the steep ladder. The village was quite. Even the roosters were asleep. I walked half dazed towards the closest jungle I could find. My flashlight reflected against two large bright green eyes. A huge horned water buffalo took a drink out of a gravity fed tap – the one we showered with that day – and walked away from me.
My stomach churned. I jogged faster and thought about how I only brought one pair of pants. I ended up sitting under a tree overlooking a sea of rice paddies. After an ecstatic cry of relief I tilt my head up and see it. I witness one of the most breathtaking scenic bathroom views one can ever have.
The brightness of the full moon lit up the entire valley. The white clouds reflected brightly against the dark blue night sky. The stars sparkled. The darkened silhouette of huge limestone mountains created a panorama almost 360 degrees. The rice paddies completed the landscape in bold gray.
I thought to myself, “Holy crap…this is the most beautiful place in the world to have diarrhea. Thank you, Lord.”
As I squatted there trying to keep my balance, I came to realize that not a single person in that entire valley could appreciate the view like I did. The thousands of people who live there could not possibly express gratitude because they don’t know their Creator. They cannot be satisfied in the good things of God because they have never heard of His goodness.
John Piper says that “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.” Our satisfaction comes from knowing that we are sons and daughters of the King. Our satisfaction comes from being in right relationship with Him. Our satisfaction comes from doing what Jesus commands us to do.
Are you satisfied in the good things of God?
The Asian Rough Rider 
Please tell me that the photo isn’t one you took in that moment. 🙂
PS — I like the “holy crap” part.
haha…I seriously just noticed that! No pun intended, for reals.
And no that wasn’t the photo from the story. The real thing was even more majestic.
This account of your agitated bowels and the glory it prompted you to behold was more profound than anything I heard from a week’s worth of lectures from the premier scholars of religion in America. When one has the Spirit of the living God within them even the unpleasantness of diarrhea can be turned into an act of worship. Thanks so much for sharing this story my friend.
Thank you Hermit for your encouraging words! I believe one day we’ll be squatting together side by side in glorious worship!!! Yes…
I’ve been constipated the last few weeks and just had a huge diarrhea session, after which I had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude to be able to just expel contents in such a way. I was wondering if anyone else out there was as thankful for diarrhea as I was, (I literally googled ‘thankful for diarrhea’)and I’m glad to see I’m not alone.
That’s awesome! I’m glad you were able to find gratitude in what is usually a dark and despicable place. More importantly, I’m happy everything came out o.k. Thanks for the comment Audrey.