HANNEN: Your suffering – not for naught
Lisa Hannan
Joni Eareckson Tada is an evangelical Christian author who has written over 40 books, a painter who sells her artwork all over the world, a radio host and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization "accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community.”
She has recorded several musical albums, starred in an autobiographical movie of her life and is an advocate for people with disabilities. Oh, and she is a quadriplegic, due to a swimming accident at the age of 17.
Nick Vujicic (“voo-yi-chich”) is an Australian-American, New York Times best-selling author, and world-renowned motivational speaker and entrepreneur who is married and has four children. Did I mention he was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, which is a rare disorder characterized by the absence of arms and legs?
These two people may not know each other personally but they certainly do have something in common. They each decided at some point in their life that they were not going to allow their trials or “disabilities” to go to waste. They decided that their lives were going to matter and make a difference for others. They decided that their suffering would not be for naught!
Are you suffering my friend? Or have you suffered in some way? Do not let your suffering go to waste. Do not let it be for naught.
The Bible teaches that God is sovereign. He is omniscient (knows all things) and omnipresent (everywhere at the same time). It also teaches that God loves us and that He is in fact, the very essence of love.
In life, sometimes we suffer because of our own doing. Sometimes, at the hands of others. And at other times, because God allows, or brings about a particular trial or difficulty to bring about His perfect plan and purpose in our lives, and in the lives of others.
There are many examples of that throughout the Bible. Think of the Apostle Paul who was imprisoned, the prophet Daniel’s three friends who were thrown in the fiery furnace for not bowing to idols and of course, our Lord Jesus on the cross at Calvary.
Once we realize and accept that we were created by God, for God, and His sovereign plan, and view everything that happens to us through that lens, we begin to have a heavenly perspective and purpose, rather than an earthly one.
We have all heard the saying, “That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” If you are still here, my friend, why not let your sufferings have purpose? Let God use them for your good and the good of others, and to glorify His Son, Jesus Christ.
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
Sometimes, our loving, all-knowing, ever-present God allows trials and suffering in our lives so that we will be able to offer others the same comfort God gives us amid our trial or suffering.
Joni Eareckson Tada and Nick Vujicic have chosen to allow God to use them to comfort and encourage others who might be suffering in some way. It is difficult to look at these two individuals and call them “disabled,” rather, I look at them and say they have been “enabled” through the strength and power of God to do what only He could enable them to do.
Whatever your suffering – the loss of a loved one, a health crisis, a disability, a job loss, a bad decision on your part, a divorce, an abortion, financial ruin; the possibilities are endless; if God has comforted you amid your suffering, offer that comfort and encouragement to someone else who might be going through what you have been through.
And that, my friend, is how we ensure that our suffering is not for naught!
Lisa Hannan lives in Valdosta with her husband, attorney Miles Hannan, who has been practicing law in Valdosta for more than 30 years. She has a B.S. in psychology from Valdosta State University. You can find her at www.lisahannan.org.
