In 1967, at only seventeen years old, Joni Eareckson broke her neck in a diving accident. Left quadriplegic from the shoulders down, she begged God to heal her. But it was not to be. God, however, had redemptive plans for His child following this human tragedy. Plans that, through Joni, would transform the lives of millions of people with disabilities and demonstrate God’s love and grace to those who suffer in this broken world.
Centuries earlier God told Paul, tormented by an unnamed condition, that He would not answer his pleas for healing (2 Corinthians 12:8). Instead, the Lord explained to the suffering apostle, “my power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). Paul’s ministry was not a way to accrue boasting rights (v. 7) but to fulfil God’s plan. So, in His love for Paul and for the many waiting to hear the gospel, God promised something other than healing. He promised him grace—sufficient and enabling for all that God was asking—grace accompanied by Christ’s power (v. 9). That delivered more than a healthy Paul ever could!
God is in the transformation business, but not always in the way we want. Consider, for instance, how He has used Joni as a living example of His grace and power. He trusts us to surrender the unexplained and, in exchange, to receive Christ’s power. That’s some trade!
By Catherine Campbell
REFLECT & PRAY
How do you respond when God’s answer to your prayer is “No”? When have you experienced God’s grace in your weakness?
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your great grace in times when I feel fragile and frail. Please grant me the strength to trust You with the things I don’t understand.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In 2 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul continued his reluctant “boasting” he began in the previous chapter to counteract the claims of the “super apostles,” false teachers who were misleading the Corinthians by preaching “a Jesus other than the Jesus [Paul] preached” (11:4). In chapter 12, he tells of a time years earlier when he’d been “caught up to the third heaven” (v. 2 ), or paradise, the place of God’s throne. According to ancient Jewish belief, there were three heavens. The first heaven was the earth’s atmosphere (winds and clouds) and the second consisted of the sun, moon, and stars.
Alyson Kieda
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