An older friend from church who has MS posted this on her facebook today, and it was quite a blessing to my own heart. It is these things that remind me how incredibly thankful I need to be everyday that my nausea is only temporary! Nonetheless, it's a trial, and this is a great encouragment of where my throughts and desires need to be. Mom, I hope it especially blesses your heart...I love you!!!
Hardships That Hang On
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me... But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." --II Corinthians 12:8-9I will never forget the day they moved me from "acute care" to "chronic care" in the hospital. As they wheeled my stretcher under the sign, I got a lump in my throat. It meant "the doctors don't know what else to do and I won't regain use of my body." My condition was chronic.
Why do some hardships never go away? You pray and plead until your knees are sore; yet the pinched nerve doesn't heal, the multiple sclerosis doesn't halt, the Alzheimers doesn't regress, the marriage doesn't get better, the job promotion never comes, and the engagement ring never arrives. After decades in a wheelchair, this is my conclusion...
The core of God's plan is to rescue us from sin and self-centeredness. Suffering - especially the chronic kind - is God's choicest tool to accomplish this. It is a long process. But it means I can accept my paralysis as a chronic condition. When I broke my neck, it wasn't a jigsaw puzzle I had to solve fast, or a quick jolt to get me back on track. My paralyzing accident was the beginning of a lengthy process of becoming like Christ.
May I share with you one of my "chronic" Bible verses that won't go away? James 1:2-4 says: "When all kinds of trials crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed" (Phillips). When that finally happens, the only thing that will be chronic is joy!
Lord, help me to embrace the chronic conditions in my life. I want endurance to be fully developed in my life. Help me to hang on.
~Joni Eareckson Tada~
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Hardships that Hang On - Devotional Thoughts by Joni Eareckson Tada
Posted by The Johnson Family at 11:46 AM
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4 comments:
Thanks, Kimmy! What a blessing to read the words of a woman who has been living with this "trial" for so long and yet still clearly echoes that God's grace is sufficient!
HI KIM!! Your sister told me you started a blog so I cam by to check it out :) I'll be back! In fact I'll just add you to my blog so I can stay in touch with you and see you and your hubby journey this new road of "parenthood"!! Congratulations on the pregnancy! Ps I was super sick like you for the first four months and then it tapered off after that...
Hi kim,Its me crystal Wendys sister I heard about your blog so I thought I would say hello!!and the same thing wendy said I will be back lol!!thank you for sharing that post!it was very encouraging!congratulations to you and your hubby on the new little one on the way!!you are going to be a great mommy how exciting and you have learned probly learned alot from some really awsome mommys.so you will do great.
Hi Kim (and Aaron...Are both of you posting on here?). I didn't even realize you had started a blog!! I was on James and Kimiko's site and saw your link...this will be a great way to stay "in touch"!
Hope you guys are doing well...sorry to hear the nausea is still so bad, but I'm happy to hear of how God is teaching you through it...I know for me it's so easy to get frustrated when things are hard! I liked the line that said "The core of God's plan is to rescue us from sin and self-centeredness."...always gotta remind myself of that when frustrations arise! Thanks for sharing, and I'll look forward to checking here often! Love ya!
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