A Lesson from Christopher Reeve
![](https://joniandfriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/henry-be-IicyiaPYGGI-unsplash-1024x678.jpg)
“Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.”
Job 14:5
Last year when I watched Christopher Reeve (the actor who was severely paralyzed in a riding accident) on television, I was deeply moved. Although he sat stiff and rigid in his wheelchair, he smiled courageously as he puffed-and-sipped his mouth controls to steer his chair. The next day I kept running into people who said, “Did you see Christopher on TV last night? Isn’t he an inspiration?”
I smiled and nodded but thought, Just last week everyone was talking about assisted suicide for people like him. It was wildly inconsistent. One day letters to the editor applaud the courage of the severely disabled; the next, the editorial column can be filled with letters cheering on the new legislation legalizing assisted suicide. One day Christopher Reeve is positioned as a helpless victim; the next, a picture of courage.
It tells me that society keeps a double standard. Society thinks it’s appropriate to prevent able-bodied people from committing suicide but considers it rational for a terminally ill or severely incapacitated person like Mr. Reeve to end his life. More importantly, it shows that we lack confidence in God’s ability to sustain those who suffer.
God gives common grace to nonbelievers who suffer, and God gives special grace to believers who suffer. Is someone close to you terminally ill or severely incapacitated? Pray that God will give them grace today. Show a skeptical society the truth of 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “You are not your own…Therefore honor God with your body.” At all times, no matter how physically or mentally limited we are, it is the Lord of life who gives breath. Be the Lord’s hands to help a suffering friend today. Through prayer and encouragement, help this hurting friend understand that life is worth living.
Jesus, help me to share with others that you are the Lord of life. Help me to support the hurting and encourage the dying. Praise you for helping people like Christopher Reeve…for using people like me.
Pressing On: How to Lean on Christ through Suffering
After more than 55 years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering. Joni encourages you to join her in living out Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”