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SUFFERING INJUSTLY |
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| | | SUFFERING INJUSTLY: A DIFFERENT PERSPRCTIVE | | |
| | | -a true story recorded by Joni Eareckson Tada | | |
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March 26, 1976 was a beautiful Friday morning in Los Angeles. But for Vicky
Olivas it was a grim reminder of happier, brighter mornings before her husband
broke his marriage vows and left Vicky alone to care for two-year-old Arturo.
Shaken and facing an uncertain future, Vicky picked up her purse and headed to
her car for a job interview. She had to start somewhere.
Vicki had difficulty finding the address the employment agency had given.
There ewere only factories in the general neighborhood. She debated about
forgetting it and just going home. But after showing the address to a passerby,
she found the building, parked her car, and walked down an alley to the last
door on the right.
The door was unlocked. She stepped into a dim front office. Dust on the
typewriter. The floor strewn with a few papers. A damp closed-in smell filled
the place. ***I hope I don't get this job,*** she thought. Peeking around a
corner, she called, "Hello... is someone here?" She cautiously made her way
down a hallway which opened into a warehouse where she found two men sitting
around a desk.
After a few introductions and some discussion about the employment agency,
the man behind the desk -- obviously the boss -- leaned back and looked Vicky
over. Suddenly she was aware of her peach pantsuit. She felt the weight of her
waist-long hair. She blinked her eyes, her lashes false and feathered and
heavy. Everything seemed weighted under his stare. They discussed resumes and
applications. Vicky was directed back to the front office to fil out more forms
- she was relieved to be away from the warehouse and near the front door. ***I
shouldn't be here... something's not right,*** she nervously thought as she
filled in her address and social security number.
At that point the boss entered the room, closed the door behind him and
clicked the lock. A chill shot up Vicky's spine, but she dismissed it as
nerves. The boss motioned her to a side hallway to another warehouse. It was
then the nightmare began...
(Joni has a paragraph here that is more graphic than we care to upload.
Suffice it to say that as a result of her struggle, she was shot. -FNP)
In a crazy turnabout, within an hour, the man dumped her off at the emergency
room of a nearby hospital and then fled. While doctors worked on her, Vicky,
feeling safe at last, told the whole story to a policewoman. Nobody believed
her until they went back to the warehouse and found her purse, and a gun in the
trash pail. The man was arrested.
The story sounds like a television movie-of-the-week, unbelievable and
improbable, but it is not fiction. And the ending has as even sadder twist. The
attacker -- who had three other convictions of attempted rape -- was released
after three years in jail. Vicky spends the rest of her life completely
paralyzed in a wheelchair.
I first met Vicky at a rehab clinic and when I wheeled up to her, I was
deeply moved by the anguish written all over her face. You can understand. You
don't even have to be paralyzed. She's sentenced to a wheelchair for life and
the crimnal goes scot free. She could have written Psalm 73:3-4, "For I envy
the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles;
their bodies are healthy and strong."
Maybe you could write the same. And those you envy may not even be arrogant
or wicked! You could be a devoted young mother who must watch your two-year-old
die slowly of cancer while you overhear other parents worry about their child's
sctatched knees and bruised elbows. You could be a 39-year-old single woman who
has served God faithfully for decades and has always longed to be married; you
watch your spiritually shallow 25-year-old friend wed a wonderful godly man.
You could be a hard-working salesman who holds fast to good ethics, but a
conniving coworker cheats his way to the top, receiving praise and promotion.
Life isn't fair. It's full of injustice. Inequities hit us from all sides.
The odd thing is, God has ***designed*** it this way. Ephesians 1:11 says that
"In him (the young mother, the single woman, and the salesman) were also chosen
having been predestinated according to the plan of him who works out everything
(children with cancer, girls who get all the blessings and conniving coworkers)
in conformity with the purpose of his will." And when it comes to convicted
rapists, "The Lord works out ***everything*** for his own ends -- even the
wicked for a day of disaster" (Proverbs 16:4).
Exactly why God has designed it this way has been the subject of theological
books throughout the ages, and I'm not about to solve it in this short article.
But a hint as to the "whys and wherefores" behind ijustices, insults and
injuries may be found in the second half of Ephesians 1:11, "... in order that
we might be for the praise of his glory." Cut and dried. Short and simple. It's
all for our good and His glory.
"It's all for our good and His glory? You've got to be kidding." This truth
almost added insult to Vicky's injury. It was like rubbing salt into the open
wound on her neck. Even as she flipped through the pages of her Bible with her
mouthstick, it was the same. Wherever she looked, scripture was replete with
what sounded like God's bravado -- He's in charge for our good and His glory so
snap out of it and learn to "rejoice in suffering!"
It's hard enough to swallow Ephesiqns 1:11 when you're hurting; but add
injustice or "unfairness" and you really choke!
But wait. Scripture seems to present us with a view of life from the eternal
perspective. This perspective separates what is transitory from what is
lasting. What is transitory, such as injustice, unfairness and pain, will not
endure; what is lasting, such as the eternal weight of glory accrued from that
pain, will remain forever. Everything else -- numbing heartache, deep
disappointment, and blatant injustices -- everything else, no matter how real
it seems to us on earth, is treated as inconsequential. Hardships are hardly
worth noticing.
The apostle Paul had this perspective when he said, "For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all." And regarding his own experiences with injustice, he added, "I
consider it rubbish" (II Corinthians 4:17; Philippians 3:7). Wait a minute. Did
he say, "Troubles, light"? "Inequities, rubbish"?
The apostle Peter had this perspective, too, when he wrote to Christian
friends being flogged and beaten. "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for
a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials" (I Peter
1:16). Rejoice? When you're cheated out of a fair trial and thrown to the
lions? The apostle expected believers to view their problems as lasting... ***a
little while?*** What sort of wristwatch was he using?
These verses did not, at first, comfort my friend, Vicky when she ans I began
to study the Bible together. In fact, this kind of biblical nonchalance about
gut-wrenching suffering used to drive her crazy. she wondered, ***Lord, I will
never walk again. I've got a leaky legbag... I smell like urine... my back
aches. Maybe You see all of this achieving an eternal glory, but all I see is
one awful day after the next of life in this stinking wheelchair. It's not
fair! Especially now that awful man is out of jail and back on the streets!***
Our pain and sense of fairness always screams for our undivided attention,
insisting, "Forget the future! What is God going to do to make it right now?"
Time does that. It riveted out attention on temporal things. And suffering
doesn't make it any easier. It tightens the screws on the moment, making us
anxious to find quick fix-its, escape hatches, or fair and just solutions.
That was what it was like for Vicky as she pitied her plight n her wheelchair.
And the fact that her attacker escaped real justice only weighted the scales
against God. When she read Romans 5:3, "rejoice in our sufferings," her first
thought was, ***Sure, God, I'll rejoice the day you make things fair! And if
you don't, what's going on? Are you trying to convince me I'm in spiritual
denial? That my hurt and pain are imaginary?*** When it came to her affliction
being light and momentary, God was obviously using a different dictionary.
The Lord, however, does not use a different lexicon when he picks words like
"light and momentary" to define earthly inequities. Even if it means being sawn
asunder, torn apart by lions, or shot in the neck like Vicky and plopped in a
wheelchair for the rest of one's life. The Spirit-inspired writers of the Bible
simply had a different perspective, an end-of-time view. Tim Stafford says,
"This is why scripture can seem at times so blithely and irritatingly out of
touch with reality, brushing past huge philosophical problems and personal
agony. But that is just how life is when you are looking from the end.
Perspective changes everything. What seems so important at the time has no
significance at all."
It's a matter of perspective. The scales of justice are ***meant*** to tip
off kilter on earth. Our unsatisfied sense of human fairness is not meant to be
balanced. But that's good: it is to our benefit that we are not satisfied in a
world destined for decay. "Therefore we do not lose heart," II Corinthians 4:16
says. "... For our light and momentary troubles are ***achieving for us an
eternal glory that far outweighs them all.***" What could possibly outweigh the
pain of permanent paralysis? The pain of a life of singleness? The loss of a
child from cancer? "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is ***temporary,*** but what is unseen is ***eternal.***" The
greater weight of eternal glory is clear: One day the scales of justice will
not only balance, but they will be weighted heavily -- almost beyond
comprehension -- to our good and god's glory. It will mean...
Greater glory to God.
A new appreciation for the justice of God -- not fairness, but justice.
The final destruction of death, disease, and devilish men. The vindication of
God's holy Name. The restoration of all things under Christ.
This means an eternal weight of glory for the young mother who holds fast to
God's grace as she watches her two-year-old die of cancer. It means a richer
reward for the single woman who perseveres patiently. It means a more exalted
eternal estate for the salesman who holds fast to good ethics.
And these things outweigh thousands of afternoons of not feeling or moving
for Vicky and me. Mind you, I'm not saying that cancer or singleness or my
paralysis or Vicky's plight are light in and of themselves. Paralysis,
disappointment in marriage or cancer only ***become*** light in contrast to the
far greater weight of the other side of the scale. And although I wouldn't
normally call almost twenty years in a wheelchair "momentary," it ***is*** when
you realize that Vicky, you and I "are only a mist that appears for a little
while and then vanishes" (James 4:14).
Scripture is constantly trying to get us to look at life this way. Our life
is but a blip on the eternal screen. Pain will be erased by a greater
understanding, it will be ecclipsed by glorious result. Something so superb,
so grandiose is going to happen at the world's finale, that it will suffice for
every hurt, atone for every heartache, and ***quid pro quo*** every injustice.
It also helps to know that the state of suffering we are in here is necessary
to reach the state we want (more accurately, God wants!) in heaven.
That is why Jesus spent so much energy emphasizing the end-of-time
perspective. The Lord had come from heaven, and He knew how wonderful it was.
Thus, He was always focusing on end results -- the harvest of the crop, the
fruit from the tree, the close of the day's labor, the profit from the
investment, the house that stands the storm. He knew that if we were to
rejoice in our suffering, our absorption with the here aand now would have to
be subdued. How else could He tell the persecuted to be happy? How else could
He remind remind His followers facing torture and death to "count it all joy"?
Nothing more radically altered the way Vicky looked at her suffering than
leap-frogging to this end-of-time vantage point. In fact, she began to wonder
how other people could possibly face quadriplegia, cancer or even a death in
the family without such a perspective. It meant no more wallowing away hours,
scorning Romans 8:28 and muttering, "How can it say all things fit together
into a pattern for good in my life!" God's pattern for her earthly good may
have smelled like urine and felt painful, but she knew the end result in
heaven would exude a frsgrant and glorious aroma: Christ in her, the hope of
glory.
It s all a matter of time. "God makes all things beautiful in his time" it
says somewhere in scripture (Ecclesiastes 3:11 -JC). And for many they won't
see the beauty until the end of time. Time solves the dilemma of Romans 8:28,
as well as all the other problems of evil, injustice, suffering and pain.
Whenever I have a tough day and need to be reminded of such things, I give my
friend Vicky Olivas a call. She is the one who now often counsels me, reminging
me, "Joni, fairness isn't the issue... God's justice is. One day He'll make it
all plain. In the meantime we trust Him. And we pray... just like i pray for
that man who attacked me.
She's right. One day her true-grit faith will turn up the wattage on God's
glory. Her perseverance in paralysis will pay off in eternal dividends. And
unless he comes to Christ, her attacker will be crushed like a grape under the
wrath of God. Hopefully, though, that man will find healing under the power of
the prayers of his victim. Philip Yancet touches on the irony: "It took the
most unfair act in history, the execution of Jesus Christ, to satisfy divine
justice in a world full of injustice. That event made it possible for the least
deserving of all people -- a convicted thief dangling on a cross, for example
-- to gain an eternity of underserved happiness."
Justice will have its day in the end. Justice will either doom a rapist dead
in his transgressions or release that rapist alive in the righteousness of
Christ. If Vicky has her way, it will be the latter rather than the former --
she understands that the value of a soul, anyone's soul, far outweighs the
inconvenience of an immoblie body. She also poignantly understands that she,
paralysis and all, is no better than a convicted thief on a cross or a criminal
released to the streets. By all that's "fair," she knows she should be on her
way to hell; and there was nothing "just" about Christ paying the penalty for
her sins, The whole drama in which she was wheeled on stage is called "mercy."
And should her attacker find Christ, God's mercy will be magnified.
Amazing. This is what an end-of-time vantage point does to a heart bent on
trusting God. Even me with earthly eyes can see that the glory which will one
day result from Vicky's life will be blinding and brilliant. And I was reminded
of thus last April when I received a note of encouragement from my friend...
"I'm being prepared to touch the wonderful scarred hands of our Lord. To know
that I'm sharing with Christ in suffering is really uplifting and comforting.
I can truly say thast my 'wheelchair' is a gift from God and that earth can
never meet my deepest longings, only Christ can. I want to throw off all that
hinders my path to haven. When I meet Jesus face to face, I want to have as
much tangible proof as I can, to show Him that I love Him and have been
faithful. Our journey has been a difficult one but for as long as the Lord has
us here on this earth, it will continue to be hard; but, what an honor to
suffer for Him. Your sister in Christ, Vicky"
Not everybody needs a bullet through the neck and a breach of justice to
grasp an end-of-time perspective. Oh, the justuce of it all! But Vicky has left
in the dust and trampled under her wheels all the talk about "fairness." She's
leaving it in God's hands. Instead she's concentrating on preparing herself for
eternity. And she inspires us to do no less.
Joni Eareckson Tada connects often with friends like Vicky Olivas through
JAF Ministries, an organization which accelerates Christian ministry in the
disabiity community. JAF Ministries, P.O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills CA 91301.
JAF Website is- http://www.netchurch.com/jaf/index.htm
(Permission to reprint was granted Fisherman's Net by JAF Ministries.)
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This Electronic Tract was produced by Fisherman's Net Publications: a division of New Covenant Ministries. For additional information regarding other publications write: Seventh Day Baptist Center 3120 Kennedy Road P.O. Box 1678 Janesville, WI 53547-1678 |
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