POSITIVE THOUGHTS

Joni Eareckson Tada

Joni Eareckson Tada is one of my heroes.  Here is a blog about her 50th anniversary in a wheel chair as a quadriplegic. A young pastor in Virginia wrote it. He commented on her thoughts, observations, and her conclusions. They struck a chord with me because I have struggled with chronic pain for thirty-five years.  Relatives and friends have pressured me to expect miraculous healing.  I felt guilty because I wasn't healed.  I have confessed all of my sins in the chance that it was my sin that caused this pain.  Joni had gone through the same things.  We both have had to deal with this inconvenience.

Like Joni I came to the same conclusions.   God does not heal everyone.  He allows the messenger from Satan, such as Paul's thorn in his side, to keep us humble. We have nowhere to go but to the Lord.  I have found over the years that when I get bogged down with bad news -- in my own life, someone else's, or just in general in the world, that the best place to go is to the Word-- “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." 

Reading the Bible assures me that God is in control.  He has a plan and some day Jesus will come back and we will have peace on Earth. The Bible also assures me that God loves me.  If I obey Him and seek Him He will help me to finish well.  So when I need positive thoughts to crowd out the negative thoughts I read God's word and am given assurances that He is with me and will never leave me or forsake me.  Jesus bore a million times the pain that I bear.  I'm privileged to taste a little of His suffering.