Image: A Place of Healing by Len Lantz (CC BY-NC-ND)
Synopsis: Len's Star Rating: 9 out of 10. An excellent book with Christian spiritual perspectives on physical pain and delays in healing.
BY LEN LANTZ, MD, author of unJoy / 12.8.2021; No. 56
Disclaimer: Yes, I am a physician, but I’m not your doctor and this article does not create a doctor-patient relationship. This article is for educational purposes and should not be seen as medical advice. You should consult with your physician before you rely on this information. This post also contains affiliate links. Please click this LINK for the full disclaimer.
Star Rating – 9 out of 10
Rating guide: 1 = horrible, 5 = average and 10 = wow
Author
Joni Eareckson Tada
About the author
Joni Eareckson Tada is the founder and CEO of Joni and Friends, a Christian charity with a focus on supporting people with disabilities. She is an accomplished artist, speaker, radio host, magazine columnist, and author of over 50 books. At age 17, she experienced a traumatic injury that resulted in quadriplegia and for decades, she has been a committed advocate for people with disabilities.
General description
A Place of Healing is a Christian book on the topic of pain and awaiting healing. The subtitle of this book is Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty, and in this book, the author genuinely explores these topics. Joni Eareckson Tada shares her spiritual perspectives and personal experiences of extreme, unremitting pain that began decades after her initial injury that resulted in quadriplegia. Topics covered in this book include:
A review of the top points by Henry Frost from his book Miraculous Healing
Practical strategies for putting pain into perspective spiritually and emotionally
Meditations on Heaven
The power of relationships to encourage those who are suffering
Stories about her work at Joni and Friends
Stories from her Wheels for the World ministry of delivering wheelchairs to people in poverty
Unique and most important aspects
A Place of Healing provides many helpful ideas from a Christian perspective on coping with physical pain and delays in healing. A startling admission by the author is that she wrote this book while in the middle of her struggle with severe physical pain. That accomplishment alone is admirable, yet the content is also practical, spiritual, and deep. A Place of Healing is infused with authenticity from the author’s lived experience and she does not minimize her struggles or anguish or offer the reader worn-out platitudes. For Christians who struggle with chronic pain, I can see this book as being very helpful as they wrestle in their spiritual faith over delays in healing and relief. Important concepts from A Place of Healing include:
Dealing with people who express that all illness is due to personal sin and that a lack of healing is because of a lack of faith
Discussing the benefits of pain from a spiritual standpoint
Providing reasons for continuing to struggle through each day despite severe pain
Explaining ways to bring God glory while awaiting the relief of pain
Sharing the “Quickly Psalms”
Best quotes
“And I am writing with great urgency. My life is changing, and I want to speak to these issues of suffering in a believer’s life – and yes, to God’s undeniable healing power – while I still can. Incessant pain, as those who have lived in its grip can attest, makes it very difficult to think, work, relate, plan, write, and – as I recently discovered – take on a public-speaking opportunity.”
“For pain is a bruising of a blessing; but it is a blessing nevertheless. It’s a strange, dark companion, but a companion – if only because it has passed through God’s inspecting hand. It’s an unwelcome guest, but still a guest. I know that it drives me to a nearer, more intimate place of fellowship with Jesus, and so I take pain as though I were taking the left hand of God. (Better the left hand than no hand at all.)”
“When you watch CNN, you get to observe and hear the stories – tales of woe – about people enduring all manner of natural and man-made heartaches, disasters, and tragedies. But when you turn off the TV and begin to intercede before the throne of God for saints scattered like diamond dust across the map of the world, you actually find yourself becoming part of the story! And you have the privilege of seeing those sad stories change, as God steps in with grace, provision, courage, perseverance, hope, and yes, sometimes miraculous healing.”
“Yes, but when you’re paralyzed, you measure happiness in quarter-inch increments. A quarter-inch of good news, received from the Lord with a grateful heart, can bring as much joy as half a mile of good news to an indifferent or cynical heart.”
Who would enjoy this book?
Readers who are interested in a Christian book on physical pain and healing that is balanced in its perspective on the role of faith and spirituality would likely enjoy A Place of Healing.
Who would not enjoy this book?
Readers who believe that illness is due to the sin of the individual and that a lack of healing is due to a lack of faith are unlikely to enjoy A Place of Healing.
Conclusion
A Place of Healing is an excellent book with Christian spiritual perspectives on physical pain and delays in healing.