I was very struck by an interview with Joni Eareckson Tada in ‘Christianity Today’ recently. Joni was injured in a diving accident when she was 17 and the interview, giving 50 years later, is entitled ‘After 50 years in a wheelchair, I still walk with Jesus.’ You can read the article here.
Joni has perhaps more experience of suffering than most of us (she has also faced stage 3 breast cancer and struggles with chronic pain on a daily basis), but the joy and peace she radiates are inspirations to us. I was particularly struck by a quotation from William Law which she says helped her in the tensions between accepting suffering that may come into our lives and seeking healing or relief from God:
“Receive every inward and outward trouble, every disappointment, every trial, every uneasiness, every darkness and desolation with both your hands, as a blessed opportunity … of dying to self, and entering into a fuller fellowship with your Savior. Look at no outward or inward trouble in any other view; reject every other thought about it; and you will find that the day of your distress will become the blessed day of your (spiritual) prosperity.”
Dying to self is not easy, but we can be sure that God will not test us beyond our limits (1 Cor 10:13) and that He is able to work in all things for our good. Joni helps us to see this truth lived out. May we find God’s grace to do the same.
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