If you’re dealing with a chronic disappointment or illness, thank God for carrying your burden today, tomorrow and the day after that.
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I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a Bible promise meant for today.
When I was newly injured, I’ll never forget meeting a paraplegic who had lived in his wheelchair for eight years. I stared at him in disbelief. I could not imagine being in a wheelchair that long. As a quadriplegic whose accident was only recent, I could not visualize day after day of staying put in a wheelchair. Let alone a lifetime of days – trials that never go away, paralysis. Maybe you understand it because you’ve got a difficult marriage. Chronic pain, ongoing poverty, or persistent mental struggles; all of it can make a single day feel absolutely unbearable. Most people who suffer through grim, long-term trials simply want the assurance that God has not forgotten them, that he cares, and that he ‘will’ see them through.
Now, there are a multitude of promises in the Bible that cover the span of a lifetime, but are there specific promises solely written for our most difficult days? Good question. And you know what? There is. One special scripture, Psalm 68:19. It contains one of those rare and precious promises because it says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up.” I believe God inspired this promise because he knows that when we have days that overwhelm us, he wants us to know that he himself will bear us up. We will keep persevering because he will keep us believing him. God Almighty will carry our load; he will support us, bolster our spirits with courage. What’s more, he’s glad to do it. The promise starts with “Blessed be the Lord.” That is, he’s happy. You bless him when you invite him to bear you up in your weakness. And in the rest of Psalm 68, the same is true for orphans and widows [that’s verse 5], prisoners and single adults [that’s verse 6], and the needy in their distress [that’s me in my wheelchair and countless others]. We are the needy in distress, just like it says in verse 10.
People who deal with chronic conditions [and perhaps you are one]; people like that are simply relieved to know that one day we will come to the end of it all, still trusting God. Thankfully, we keep enduring and persevering because we have that hope! But the gospel takes it a giant step further. It assures us that there is an eternal purpose that goes far beyond the stress of a bad day. There is hidden gold in that trial. Second Corinthians 4 promises that our “light and momentary affliction [a lifetime of quadriplegia; light and momentary], it is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Thanks to the gospel—the death and resurrection of Christ—our trials are working for us a gloriously increased capacity for more service and joy in eternity than if you had never suffered.
God’s going to outrageously reward you for relaxing into the everlasting arms that bear you up in your worst of days. He’s going to reward you for recognizing and thanking him that his strong arms keep you from sinking and drowning under your terrible burden. So, if you are dealing with a chronic disappointment or illness, thank God for carrying your burden today. And tomorrow, look ahead, thank him that he will do the same, day after day until you lay your burden down—and receive its counterweight in reward.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I sure do love sharing this kind of hope—biblical hope for those who hurt—every day right here on this station.
© Joni and Friends
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a Bible promise meant for today.
When I was newly injured, I’ll never forget meeting a paraplegic who had lived in his wheelchair for eight years. I stared at him in disbelief. I could not imagine being in a wheelchair that long. As a quadriplegic whose accident was only recent, I could not visualize day after day of staying put in a wheelchair. Let alone a lifetime of days – trials that never go away, paralysis. Maybe you understand it because you’ve got a difficult marriage. Chronic pain, ongoing poverty, or persistent mental struggles; all of it can make a single day feel absolutely unbearable. Most people who suffer through grim, long-term trials simply want the assurance that God has not forgotten them, that he cares, and that he ‘will’ see them through.
Now, there are a multitude of promises in the Bible that cover the span of a lifetime, but are there specific promises solely written for our most difficult days? Good question. And you know what? There is. One special scripture, Psalm 68:19. It contains one of those rare and precious promises because it says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up.” I believe God inspired this promise because he knows that when we have days that overwhelm us, he wants us to know that he himself will bear us up. We will keep persevering because he will keep us believing him. God Almighty will carry our load; he will support us, bolster our spirits with courage. What’s more, he’s glad to do it. The promise starts with “Blessed be the Lord.” That is, he’s happy. You bless him when you invite him to bear you up in your weakness. And in the rest of Psalm 68, the same is true for orphans and widows [that’s verse 5], prisoners and single adults [that’s verse 6], and the needy in their distress [that’s me in my wheelchair and countless others]. We are the needy in distress, just like it says in verse 10.
People who deal with chronic conditions [and perhaps you are one]; people like that are simply relieved to know that one day we will come to the end of it all, still trusting God. Thankfully, we keep enduring and persevering because we have that hope! But the gospel takes it a giant step further. It assures us that there is an eternal purpose that goes far beyond the stress of a bad day. There is hidden gold in that trial. Second Corinthians 4 promises that our “light and momentary affliction [a lifetime of quadriplegia; light and momentary], it is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Thanks to the gospel—the death and resurrection of Christ—our trials are working for us a gloriously increased capacity for more service and joy in eternity than if you had never suffered.
God’s going to outrageously reward you for relaxing into the everlasting arms that bear you up in your worst of days. He’s going to reward you for recognizing and thanking him that his strong arms keep you from sinking and drowning under your terrible burden. So, if you are dealing with a chronic disappointment or illness, thank God for carrying your burden today. And tomorrow, look ahead, thank him that he will do the same, day after day until you lay your burden down—and receive its counterweight in reward.
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I sure do love sharing this kind of hope—biblical hope for those who hurt—every day right here on this station.