Have you ever asked the Lord, “how long?” You don’t have a high priest who is out of touch with your reality – he is with you!
Have you ever asked, “How long, O Lord?”
Well, hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and if you have, then you are in the company of David, who wrote Psalm 13. He starts off asking, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?” It seems that every child of God has asked this question at one time or another, right, and that every follower of God has felt neglected by him – or at least that he has waited a long, long time for the Lord to do what needs to be done. And for me, sitting in this wheelchair for all these decades, oh my goodness, I have wondered, “Oh Lord, how long?”
It’s something I think about because of verses like 1 Peter 5:10, where it says, “And the God of all grace... after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” Now, I like that part about being made strong, but the passage seems to imply that 55 years of quadriplegia is considered only a “little while.” Like, what kind of wristwatch is God wearing?! I mean, the Bible makes it sound as though those years of deep hardship and pain are but a blink-of-an-eye. Doesn’t God know how long it’s been, how interminable these decades can feel when you’re in a wheelchair?
Well, in fact, he does know. God is aware. And there is a special passage in the Gospel of John that lays the issue to rest. It’s where Jesus visits the Pool of Bethesda, where many disabled people were languishing and asking the same question, “how long?” Well, Jesus approached a paralyzed man who was lying on a straw mat. It’s easy to picture His eyes welling with tears. Jesus saw more than just a lonely, disabled man waiting to be healed—without any real hope. And it says in John 5:6 that when Jesus “learned that he had been in that condition for a long time,” his heart was moved. In other words, Jesus recognized that the years this man had been paralyzed comprised “a long time.” And as such, the Lord was moved by compassion to act. And so, it’s clear that lengthy suffering – that is, pain and disability that seems to go on forever – truly moves the heart of God. He takes notice; he recognizes that years of suffering constitutes “a long, long time.”
And being in this wheelchair for so long, I am so grateful that God makes note of the many years. Psalm 103 says that “He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” God identifies with our frailties. He who was ever beyond time decided that before time to enter time and experience the passing of time with those He created. God is with us in our pain, sharing our sorrows, counting our tears, and whispering reminders of His presence. He knows time in a personal, experiential way. As the writer of Hebrews said it: “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality.”
So, how long until our suffering ends? When tears are dried, and disability is no more? Well, with every year of hardship, God’s loving kindness only increases in equal measure. And one day, something so grand is going to happen in the world’s finale – when sorrow and sighing ends, when that occurs – the revelation of Jesus as King of Kings – it’ll more than suffice for every tear you’ve cried. How long? Well, not too long. Just a little while longer. It’s a promise from God himself.
© Joni and Friends