Strength in Weakness: Joni Eareckson Tada and 2 Corinthians 12:9

Some lessons arrive with a price tag nobody wants to pay. Today's reflection is about strength that shows up in the places we feel weakest.

Key verse (KJV), 2 Corinthians 12:9: "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

A real story to sit beside it: on July 30, 1967, 17-year-old Joni Eareckson dove into the Chesapeake Bay, misjudged the depth of the water and fractured her neck. She was left paralysed from the shoulders down. According to her autobiography, as summarised on Wikipedia, her two years of rehabilitation were marked by anger, depression and religious doubts. Yet in occupational therapy she learned to paint holding a brush between her teeth, and began selling her artwork. Today Joni Eareckson Tada is the author of more than 40 books and the founder of Joni and Friends, a ministry serving people with disabilities.

Her story does not pretend the pain was small. It simply shows that God's grace can meet us in the hospital bed, in the doubt, and in the slow work of learning to begin again.

Prayer point: Lord, where I feel too weak to continue, let Your grace be enough for today.

Over to you:
- Has there been a season when you felt weak, and yet saw God's strength carry you through? We would love to hear it.
- How can our parishes and fellowships better stand with members who are living with disability or long illness?

Sources: Wikipedia, "Joni Eareckson Tada"; the King James Bible, 2 Corinthians 12:9.
Photo: Joni Eareckson Tada in 2014, via Wikimedia Commons (RealTVfilms)