Joni shares a passage from John 5 and a real-life story that proves that Jesus sees those who suffer.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I am in search of encouragement!
Yep, that’s me. And it is how I felt yesterday. I was so weary. I received some disappointing news and it just did not go down well with me. It only added to the burden of my pain yesterday, as well as my quadriplegia, weariness from disability routines. And when I get like that, my prayers are often short and sweet: “Oh Jesus, I need your encouragement. Please brighten my heart today.” It’s the kind of prayer Jesus loves to answer, he does, and so, he did just that. Jesus encouraged me through a very brief letter that arrived on the same day. It was from a woman I had never met. Cheri has been a quadriplegic in a wheelchair since 1984. In her letter, she did not say how she broke her neck so long ago, but she did include her photo.
And it was that photo that melted my heart. Cheri was sitting in her big, bulky wheelchair, slightly slouched, covered with blankets. She was looking up into the camera with this faint smile. And she just, well, Cheri looked weary, too. I found out why when I read her brief note. In it, she empathized with many of my pain problems. And I can see why – she has lived in a wheelchair for 38 years. And when I read that number, you can’t help but think of the words of Jesus concerning the paralyzed man in John 5. You know the scene: the pool of Bethesda. Starting with the fourth verse John describes it this way, he says, "Crowds of sick people – blind, lame, or paralyzed – lay on the porches. One of them lying there had been paralyzed for 38 years. When Jesus saw him and learned he had been in this condition for a long time…" Woah, let me stop there, because here's the deal. Cheri has lived in her wheelchair for 38 years, just as long as that man by the pool of Bethesda. And in John 5, it states that Jesus believes that 38 years of paralysis comprises a "long time."
Now, forget the fact that I’ve been paralyzed longer than Cheri, that’s not the point. Thirty-eight years is still a long time to live with quadriplegia in a wheelchair. And it warms my heart so much that Jesus feels that 38 years of paralysis is worth noting as “long.” Don’t you love that the Son of God thinks like that? And for Cheri, with her 38 years? Encouragement, well, it’s hard to come by; her network is so small, and she does not get out much. And so, this woman encourages herself. As the Bible puts it, “she strengthens herself in the Lord.” And her way of doing this is by writing songs. In her letter, Cheri included one called “I’d Still Choose Jesus Today.” In fact, let me read the words. She says, “If there were no mansions in heaven, No sweet angels singing his praise, No hope of living forever, I would still choose Jesus today. Yes, I’d still choose Jesus today, I walk with him come what may. And if you take forever away, I’d still choose Jesus today.”
Now, I’m not about to pick apart the theology behind that statement, because indeed there are angels, there is the hope of living forever when you know Jesus. But yesterday in all my discouragement and weariness, I wasn’t thinking about theology. I was delighting in how God was able to strengthen me and encourage me through Cheri’s story and her song. Hey, I’ve posted her photo today on my radio page at Joniradio.org, so come and meet this precious sister in Christ. Knowing her story, I hope you’d still choose Jesus today and every day.
© Joni and Friends