Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Shana: This is Shana on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Joni just loves hearing from radio listeners like you and like Todd. And here she is to tell you about Todd's email.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Todd knows that I talk a lot about suffering and hardship and so he wrote to tell me about a health concern that his wife recently faced. He started off his email saying this: "Joni, my wife of almost 30 years has been blessed with MS." I thought that was an odd thing to say, but Todd went on. He said, "I know what you're thinking. How is multiple sclerosis a blessing? Well, Joni, it's a matter of perspective. Before Christmas 2017, my wife's vision started to deteriorate. She said it was like looking through lace curtains. It would come and go, better in the morning but worsening as the day progressed. I was alarmed at this as normal eye issues don't come and go."

Todd went on to explain that they went to an ophthalmologist who in turn sent her to an eye surgeon. The surgeon then sent her to a neurologist and right after Christmas of 2017, they were told that it might be terminal brain cancer. All of a sudden, Todd said it was worse than being hit by a Mack truck. They had to wait a week for the results of a spinal tap to come back, but in that week, cancer was all they could think of.

Todd continued writing: "Joni, there was so much crying, praying, trying to figure out my life without my wife. I was lost. A boat in the ocean with no rudder, no sail, no wind. God was my only hope." But after a week, tests came back indicating that the eye problem was not terminal cancer. It was multiple sclerosis. And what did Todd have to say about that? "Oh, Joni, God is so good." His wife has now started treatments for which they are very grateful. And just how did Todd sign off his email? He wrote simply this: "So here we are, blessed by God with multiple sclerosis."

I had to read that final statement one more time. Blessed by God with multiple sclerosis? Well, it could have been cancer, couldn't it? It could have been terminal cancer, but it wasn't. And it made me look down at my own paralyzed legs. My injury could have been higher on my spinal cord, leaving me with no ability to shrug my shoulders or feed myself with limited arm movement. I could have broken my neck at a higher level, but I didn't. For all of us, things could be worse, much worse. We could all be struggling with every disease in the medical book, but we're not.

First Thessalonians chapter three says, "Don't be shaken by the troubles you're going through. You know that we are destined for such troubles." Did you hear that? Yes, we are all destined for hardships, but each one is hand-screened by a loving Father who will not make the cross we must carry one ounce too heavy or one inch too long. If God were not constantly screening the trials that touch us, the world would be absolutely intolerable for everyone. Just try to conceive of the devil unrestrained. Left to his own, Satan would make Jobs of us all. Your head would be mounted on his wall above his fireplace. The only reason things are not worse is that God curbs evil and he's doing it constantly.

That is encouraging news for Todd and his wife. This time, it's not terminal cancer; it's a debilitating disability. For me, this time it's not a broken hip and quadriplegia; it's just quadriplegia. Such comparisons make us grateful, as they do Todd and his family. And that's a thought to encourage you today. For even though you are destined for trouble, as the Bible says, that trouble, praise God, is carefully screened by the Lord Jesus Christ who loves you.