A Bruising Blessing

A Bruising Blessing

When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs, where pools of blessing collect after the rains! –Psalm 84:6

I saw Joni Eareckson Tada recently on Larry King Live. I could tell that Larry was completely perplexed by Joni’s joy and that he was also inspired by her faith. Near the end of the program, he asked Joni if she longingly anticipates being able to walk in heaven. Here’s what she said:

If I could, I would take this wheelchair to heaven with me. Standing next to my Savior, Jesus Christ, I would say, “Lord, do you see this wheelchair? Well, before you send it to hell, I want to tell you something about it. You were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble. There’s a lot of trouble being a quadriplegic. But you know what? The weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you, and the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. Thank you for the bruising blessing it was, this severe mercy. Thank you.”

How could Joni, who has spent most of her life bound to a wheelchair, thank God for this “bruising blessing”? Because in that chair is where she found rich fellowship with God, deep contentment in God. That is blessing.

To be blessed doesn’t mean that you are untroubled, healthy, admired, or prosperous. It means that all is well between you and God, that you are deeply secure and profoundly content in God even though you may be weeping over the pain of a sick body, a deteriorating mind, a rebellious spirit, or a dysfunctional relationship. The blessing is not that he gives us what we want but that he gives us himself, especially in our painful places.

How has God shown his severe mercy in your life? Has he used a hospital bed, an antagonistic person, a foreclosure notification, or divorce papers to bring you to the place that you are willing to lean on him? Our places of pain become our richest blessings when we find God there. His very presence turns valleys of weeping into pools of blessing.

Blessed Refuge, thank you for even the painful places my journey has taken me, not because I’ve enjoyed them or wanted them, but because there I’ve drawn closer to you. Refresh me now with pools of blessing, more of you.

DIGGING DEEPER