SUFFERING WELL: WEATHERING TROUBLES THAT COME OUR WAY
TEXAS JUDGE REMOVED IN TRANSGENDER TRANSITION CUSTODY FIGHT
MISSISSIPPIāS 15 WEEK ABORTION BAN RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL
WORD FROM AN INTERCESSOR: PRAYER STRATEGY
KANYE WEST BRINGS A MODERN GOSPEL OPERA TO LINCOLN CENTER
SUFFERING WELL: WEATHERING TROUBLES THAT COME OUR WAY
A test of a worldview is whether it is big enough to weather sickness, disability, and the scorn of a culture.
Recently, my friend Joni Eareckson Tada had surgery to remove a cancerous nodule. This less than three years after being declared cancer-free. Iām thankful to say that so far, the procedure seems to have been a success.
Please pray for Joni, her husband Ken, her family, and the continuing work of her ministry, Joni and Friends.
Soon after she received this new diagnosis, Joni wrote me about what it means to āsuffer well.ā And I thought: If thereās a category of life more alien to the secular, progressive mind, I donāt know what it would be. A dominant message in our culture is that suffering is irredeemable, worthless, and to be avoided at all costsāeven at the cost of life itself. Thatās the thinking behind doctor-assisted suicide for instance, something Joni has fiercely opposed.
Still what continually stuns me, and convicts me, is how Joni understandsāeven now, even after fifty years in a wheelchair and even in the midst of a second battle with cancerāthat her suffering is not about her. It has eternal potential.
She knows (and sheās told me herself) that the way she handles whatās happening to her right now will send a message: not only that life with disability is worth living, but that God has a special place in His family for those our culture considers inconvenient. She understands that members of Christās body who canāt walk, or see, or interact on the same level as others are not only indispensable parts of the Kingdom of God, but are needed by the rest of us for our own edification and sanctification.
Unfortunately, many of us in the church fail to grasp this. In a recent piece in the Washington Post, sociologist Andrew Whitehead described how he and his family have struggled to find a church home. They have two sons on the autism spectrum, and he tells of degrading comments and behaviors by congregants who see these boys as interruptions instead of Image-Bearers.
Whitehead says he and his wife have spent years watching worship and sermons on screens, or just giving up and staying home. Christians have told him his children probably shouldnāt attend church, because they canāt really āget anythingā out of it.
His experience, sadly, isnāt unique. He cites a survey of over 400 parents of children with special needs, which found that a third of them had switched faith communities because their children werenāt welcome. In his own research, heās found that the odds of children on the autism spectrum never attending religious services at all are nearly double those of children without such a condition.
Church leaders, I get it. Itās hard. Dear friends of mine who have children with autismāincluding Chuck Colsonās daughter, Emilyāhave described their daily struggle and exhaustion in a way that leaves me in awe of their strength and faith. For a church to decide to prioritize, love, and serve a family with needs like this takes sacrifice.
(Excerpt from Christianity Today. Article by John Stonestreet and G. Shane Morris.)
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In response to parents of special needs children, our church , the Williamsburg Community Chapel, Williamsburg , Virginia has a thriving ministry called Worship Buddies for just such families.
Father, the cry of Shasta’s heart is my prayer also.
Lord Jesus help us all to become more sensitive to your Holy Spirit. Help us to have soft , contrite loving hearts that have compassion and empathy. Help us to be courteous to others. Help us to love our neighbor as ourself. Help us to be salt and light wherever we are. Thank you for this new day and new opportunity to come to you with our needs. Thank you for your kindness, your mercy and your unlimited compassion. May we be conformed daily into your image. With love always.