Our Bible verse for today: “But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (CSB)
Our thought for today: “With God you can handle this”.
In his book “Where is God when it hurts?” Philip Yancey tells the story of two people who each suffered a catastrophic life-altering injury as teenagers. Both were talented young athletes with promising lives in front of them, and both of them broke their necks and ended up as quadriplegics for life.
Understandably, each of them went through a period of denial and depression. One of them, a young man, never came out of it. He lived the rest of his life gloomy, brooding, and always expecting God to return Him to full health, even though after decades of paralysis it was clear that wasn’t going to happen in this lifetime.
The other accident victim, a young woman, soon came to the conclusion that her paralyzed condition would simply be the new normal for her. She resolved that by relying on the constant help of the Lord she would accept it, embrace it, and then live her life to the fullest, with joy and enthusiasm. That woman’s name is Joni Eareckson Tada.
From that point forward her life became one of accomplishment and fullness. She learned to paint holding a paint brush in her teeth. She developed a great singing voice and sings in the choir at church. She has written multiple books about faith and encouragement and perseverance. She is an inspirational motivational speaker at Christian conferences, and she founded and leads the ministry “Joni and Friends”, which is a Christian ministry focused on serving the needs of the disabled community worldwide. (By the way, Joni’s mission teams use my book “Bringing it Home” as their post-trip devotional guide. I’m very honored by that.)
When faced with challenges, trials, and hardships most of us turn to the Lord for help. But like the young man in the story above, usually we’re seeking guidance that will lead us out of our problems and back to a more pleasant situation in life. But sometimes that’s not God’s plan. Sometimes the guidance He gives is something like: “Trust Me. Rely on Me. Instead of taking this trial away, I want you to shine for me in the middle of it. I want to renew your strength and give you firm resolve so you can soar like an eagle with this challenge in your life.”
Tragedy and suffering, pain and heartache, challenges and difficulties, are all simply part of life, and sometimes they don’t go away. But God wants to redeem those things and bring good out of them. We will explore this idea further tomorrow.
Oak Hill Baptist Church