There is a story in Matthew 9 about Jesus healing a man whose friends had gotten him to where Jesus was. We recognize the particulars of this story and marvel in the fact that Jesus chose to heal the man because of the faith of his friends. The one thing that struck me this morning is that The Message translation used the term paraplegic to describe his condition. That fit right in with what Mayre Lou and I were watching on a DVD yesterday.
We are in Chattanooga and visited with John and Darlene Ankerberg. John produces a television program, and he gave us a copy of his latest series. One of the featured personalities in this was Joni Eareckson Tada, a lady who has been a paraplegic for the last 45 years, the result of a diving accident when she was 17.
I was struck with the different outcomes of the paralytic condition of Joni and the man in Matthew. One is healed and the other is not, but that is not the one thing that stood out to me.
Jesus said to the man in the Bible story, "Get up, take up your bed and go home". He said to Joni, "I will give you the strength to get through this, one day at a time. Trust me."
Both of these persons must have prayed for healing. For one the answer was "yes", and he went back to a "regular" life. For the other the answer was "Not now", and she went on to bless thousands of others with her life and ministry. One knew the miracle of healing, and the other was granted a unique opportunity to trust and serve.
Now I do not know what happened to the man in Matthew, the Bible does not say any more about him. He may have gone on to be a giant in the early church, but we do not even know his name.
Listening to Joni's story, I know that her suffering has been real, her pain great, and her anguish and frustration hard to bear. I can't complain about anything in my life after comparing my paltry pains to hers, but I know that God has blessed her in ways that I can't even imagine.
Check out her story at:
http://www.johnankerberg.org/television-shows/
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