How do you respond to suffering? And how do you respond when you suffer in a similar way again? And again?
The example of Joni Eareckson Tada is an encouragement about how to respond when we suffer physically again and again.
She has been a quadriplegic for more than 40 years, and her testimony of love for and peace and trust in Christ has been wonderfully evident all those years. Then last year it was revealed that she was suffering more complications from her paralysis and that she was enduring new levels of pain. And then recently she revealed that she now has breast cancer.
How might you respond to these severe kinds of physical suffering? Here’s Joni’s response to this new and increased suffering:
I’ve often said that our afflictions come from the hand of our all-wise and sovereign God, who loves us and wants what is best for us. So, although cancer is something new, I am content to receive from God whatever He deems fit for me,” she said. “Yes, it’s alarming, but rest assured that Ken and I are utterly convinced that God is going to use this to stretch our faith, brighten our hope and strengthen our witness to others.
This is a kind of faith that rests confidently in the truths of Rom. 8:28-29. Pray for God’s grace to her physically. Pray for her endurance. And pray that God really will use this to stretch the faith, brighten the hope and strengthen the witness of her and her husband Ken.
(HT: Justin Taylor)
Aside: When I first heard of her cancer, I immediately thought of John Piper’s article, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer,” and then noticed that she also had put a link to that article on her website.
Words of Grace 