Victorious Suffering

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.

Philippians 1:29 RSV

One person whose name is synonymous with “victorious suffering” is the courageous, gifted quadriplegic Joni Eareckson Tada. As the result of a diving accident, she is confined to a wheelchair, unable to care for her simplest needs. And yet she is one of the most vibrant, beautiful human beings I have known.

She has shared the platform with us many times in our crusades, and her testimony to what the Lord has done for her in and through her testing never ceases to amaze and humble me. Joni has emerged from the fire of her testing with an unbelievably broad and perceptive insight into not only the meaning of suffering, but also into all the great theological truths that bear on this subject. Joni has had her own small Armageddon.

Her ability to grasp the deepest truths and phrase them in simple terms awes and inspires me. I know of very few people, including some of our greatest theologians, who have such a practical and wide-ranging grasp of who God is and what He is doing in His world. Her service for God is many times greater than if she had never had that accident while diving into the Chesapeake Bay.

Most of us will never experience the kind of handicap Joni has faced. But we complain just the same.

If you are physically well, praise God and learn not to complain about comparably minor irritations. If you do suffer from a physical infirmity, remember that the Lord is your strength and that He will not only see you through this life, but He will give you a brand-new body in the next life.

Our Father and our God, You have given Jesus to me as an example of how to live through suffering with grace and patience. I pray that I will be able to emulate His attitude when suffering comes to me. Bless me, Father, with heavenly understanding for my earthly life through Jesus and Your Word. In Him I pray. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).