"The Privilege of Suffering" Joni Eareckson's story is now well known to us both through her books and the movieabout her paralysis as a teenager and her amazing fight back to a useful andproductive life of ministry through her art. From the preface of Joni: Isolated, by itself, what is a minute? Merely a measurement of time. There are sixtyin an hour, 1,440 in a day. At seventeen, I had already ticked off more than 9 millionof them in my life. Yet, in some cosmic plan, this single minute was isolated. Intothese particular sixty seconds was compressed more significance than all the millionsof minutes marking my life prior to this instant. So many actions, sensations, thoughts, and feelings were crowded into that fragment oftime. How can I describe them? How can I begin to catalog them? I recall so clearly the details of those few dozen seconds--seconds destined to changemy life forever. And there was no warning or premonition. What happened on July 30, 1967, was the beginning of an incredible adventure which Ifeel compelled to share because of what I have learned. Oscar Wilde wrote: "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting whatone wants, and the other is getting it." To rephrase his thought, I suggest there arelikewise only two joys. One is having God answer all your prayers; the other is not receiving the answer to all your prayers. I believe this because I have found that Godknows my needs infinitely better than I know them. And He is utterly dependable, nomatter which direction our circumstances take us. In the Psalms we're told that God does not deal with us according to our sins andiniquities. My accident was not a punishment for my wrongdoing--whether or not Ideserved it. Only God knows why I was paralyzed. Maybe He knew I'd be ultimately happier serving Him. If I were still on my feet, it's hard to say how things might havegone. I probably would have drifted through life--marriage, maybe even divorce--dissatisfied and disillusioned. When I was in high school, I reacted to life selfishlyand never built on any long lasting values. I lived simply for each day and the pleasureI wanted--and almost always at the expense of others. --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 13.
Personal Comment: There is a good purpose hidden in every painful life experience like the one described above. What is important is that once in a while we pause and learn the lessons of good beneath the sad realities of life and celebrate that God loves us after all just the way we are. - Bobby Sagra, Spiritual Teacher for University of Melchizedek, Glorieta, NM, USA
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