Hope
Notes on John Piper's Book - Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, Chapter 9. Chapter 9 is written by Joni Eareckson Tada.
After her paralyzing accident, Joni Eareckson Tada was in a stryker frame - - facing downward - strapped to an archaic machine.... Her thoughts grew dark and hopeless....One week, a friend came to see her, and this friend opened a bible on a stool, as Joni lay face down in the stryker, looking directly at the bible on the stool. The friend put Joni's mouth stick in Joni's mouth and asked Joni to turn to Psalm 18 and read:
Psalm 18:6-19 - 6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. 7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. 8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. 9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky. 12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. 13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. 15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. 16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. 19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Listen now- - the Lord delights in you !!!! The Lord will come to your rescue !!!!
Psalm 10:17 - 17 You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
If, every morning,you feel like you cannot get up, you cannot continue in pain, you can't go on- - remember this - -
Hebrews 12:2b 2b For the joy set before him he (Jesus) endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Should we expect to do less?
2 Corinthians 12:9 - 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
You might be in all the pain the world can throw at you - - in an impossible situation - but remember this - -
2 Corinthians 4:7-12 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
Who is handicapped anyway??? It's the proud person who does not give thanks to God for all he has - - and James 4:6 says- "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble...... and who is the humble? these are the people who are humiliated by their weaknesses....and let Christ's power come into their lives through their own weakness!
Luke 9:23 - 23 Then he (Jesus) said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."
Joni says her cross is not her wheelchair and she adds it's not your pains - - it is your attitude..... we are called to die daily to our complaining attitudes.... Not only to die daily in them but also to experience the power of the resurrection which puts to death any doubts, fears, and grumblings.
When we die daily, we share in the fellowship of Jesus' sufferings.... and to be in God's presence is to be holy - - not sinless - - but it helps us to sin less.....
This suffering in our lives and this "dying to self" is not pretty - - it sandbalsts us to the core - - revealing who we really are...
Joni says about suffering disabled Christians - - "we are to God, the fragrance of Christ - - the world can't see Jesus because He's not here on earth, but you and I are. And we can fill up in our flesh what is lacking in his afflictions (Col 1:24), and in so doing become the sweet fragrance, the aroma of Christ to God."
Consider what we have as Believers:
Matt 13:11 - 11And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given
Luke 12:48 - 48But he who did not know and did things worthy of a beating shall be beaten with few [lashes]. For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required; and of him to whom men entrust much, they will require and demand all the more.
Joni says - "God mandates that we go out into the streets and the alleys and find the poor, the blind, the disabled and help them "get busy living" because misery might enjoy company but joy craves a crowd ! the Father, Son and Spirit crave a crowd of joy filling the hearts of thirsty people who are absolutely dehydrated from a lack of hope."...
Image via Joni and Friends.
