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| 2010/10/31 08:40:19瀏覽280｜回應1｜推薦5 | |
| I came across this article interview on the Christianity Today featuring Joni Eareckson Tada. At age 17, the disabilities advocate was severely paralyzed in a diving accident. For the past ten years, she has endured chronic pain. Now, at age 60, she confronts breast cancer. Eareckson is the author of a new book, "A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God's Sovereignty" where she outlines her theology of suffering. What struck me in this interview was Eareckson's attitude toward suffering. She viewed all the sufferings in her life through the lens of God's word and characters as opposed to most people view life's sufferings through the lenses of circumstances. Eareckson quoted 1 Peter 2:21: "To these hardships you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps." She said those steps most lead Christians not to miraculous, divine interventions but directly into the "fellowship of suffering". She said the sufferings she's been through only drew her closer to the Savior. "There are things about his character that I wasn't seeing a year ago or even six months ago." she said. When asked if the focus is on living, shouldn't Christians prepare themselves for further suffering and death? Eareckson made this remark which I think is a great reminder that all of us believers are learning how to die to ourselves everyday by accepting God's grace. Here's an excerpt of Eareckson's response on suffering and death: "None of us, in our culture of comfort, know how to prepare ourselves for dying, but that's what we should do every day. Every single day, we die a thousand deaths. We don't just walk through the valley of shadow of death when we get a medical report or when we survive a stroke. We go through the valley of the shadow of death every time we say no to our selfish desires. When we say yes to the grace of God, we are learning how to die. " In other words, I'm dying to my self-centeredness every time I say no to worldly things including where and how I spend my time and effort, and what I do with my passions and desires. When my gaze is fixed upon the Lord and engage in the things that are valuable in His eyes, I'm dying a little to myself and learning how to live on the other side of eternity. As Eareckson put it beautifully, "Every time we go to sleep, it's a rehearsal of the day when our eyes will ultimately close and we wake up on the side of eternity. " |
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| ( 心情隨筆｜心情日記 ) |
