Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and join me in singing this wonderful favorite:
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I am found.
Was blind, but now I see.
The grace of God always amazes me, I bet you too, but not only because of salvation. Yes, I'm amazed that the Lord should extend His mercy to me, one who sins way too easily, way too comfortably. But I'm also amazed at the grace God extends for every physical need. I'm in a wheelchair—have been so for almost 45 years. And when you live that long sitting in one position, pain becomes an everyday companion. And maybe you can relate. Maybe you’re not in a wheelchair, but you’re still nursing pain from a botched surgery … or a knee replacement that went bad … or migraine headaches that send you to bed in the middle of the day. If that’s you, I tell you what, you’ve got a friend in me.
Pain, for many people, is not a temporary visitor; it has moved in to stay. And you know what? For me that can be pretty scary. I think, “What if it gets worse? What if I have to stay in bed?” Whenever scary thoughts like that ravage my peace of heart and mind, I enter into a quiet, but very reliable discipline. I say daily, hourly, or even moment by moment, "Lord Jesus, you had the same feelings. You've suffered; you understand pain. But you did not panic like me. Your Word says that you learned obedience through the things you suffered. And I want to do the same. Teach me to trust you; teach me to rely on and cling to you in the middle of this pain. And I'll give you the praise even if I don’t get relief. I pray that in your name.”
Something else I have learned from pain? It’s this poem written by my friend, Margaret Clarkson, a dear saint who suffered greatly from chronic pain. And she writes:
Lord Jesus, King of pain,
Thy subject I;
Thy right it is to reign;
Oh, hear my cry,
And bid in me all longings cease
Save for Thy holy will’s increase.
Thy right it is to reign
O’er all Thine own;
Then, if Thy love send pain,
Find there Thy throne,
And help me bear it unto Thee,
Who didst bear death and hell for me.
Lord Jesus, king of pain,
My heart’s Adored,
Teach me eternal gain
Is Love’s reward:
In Thee I hide me;
hold me still
Till pain work all
Thy perfect will.
Friend, there is but one who can enter into your pain—that is the Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief. His unending empathy and grace to sustain—His amazing grace—is the only thing that can swallow up the anguish of the human heart. He understands it all and the implications of pain as no one else ever will. And He fellowships with you in the middle of every pain that you will ever face, from this day forward. And that is something to remember the next time you reach for a bottle of Advil. Say to the Lord Jesus, “Thy right it is to reign O’er all Thine own; Then, if Thy love send pain, Find there Thy throne.”
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends