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Joni Eareckson Tada celebrates her 74th birthday this year. That birthday marked a milestone, but not just because of her age. Joni has lived 57 of those 74 years confined to a wheelchair.

In 1967, Joni dove into shallow water in the Chesapeake Bay. In seconds, her life changed from athletic teenager to quadriplegic. She was paralyzed from her shoulders down, due to a broken neck. Back then, Joni says, doctors thought it impossible for a quadriplegic to reach age 70.

But in spite of her tragic circumstances, she has overcome bitterness, endured suffering, and still found meaning in life. In 1976, Joni wrote about her life-changing experience in an autobiography that was retold in a movie called “Joni,” released in 1980. She became a talented artist, painting beautiful drawings by holding a small paintbrush in her mouth.

Joni Eareckson Tada now lives in California and leads a ministry for people with disabilities and their families. Through her ministry, Joni & Friends, some 10,000 wheelchairs are collected every year and distributed in over 86 countries. Week-long Family Retreats are held for those who live with disability.

She released a video on her birthday that I have watched numerous times. Her words eloquently answer the question of why people suffer. And, since I enjoy photography, I could literally picture her explanation and wanted to share her words with you.

“I am living well. I’m living joyfully. Yes, a broken neck is a tragedy, but God has the capacity, get this, to look at our suffering through a narrow lens and a wide angle one. When God looks at a painful event through a narrow lens, like my broken neck, He sees the tragedy for what it is and He is deeply grieved…God felt the sting in his chest when I dove into shallow water and crunched my neck and severed my spinal cord.

“But when God looked at it through his wide-angle lens, He saw the tragedy in relation to everything leading up to it, as well as flowing out of it. He saw Joni and Friends…. He saw Family Retreats and He saw ‘Wheels for the World’…. He saw hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities, and their families, coming to Jesus Christ.

“He saw this amazing mosaic stretching into eternity. And friend, it’s this mosaic with all its parts, both good and evil, which brings God utter delight. And so… I’m saying NO to a narrow view of my life…I’m not gonna go down that dark grim path. And I encourage you to do the same.”

Joni asks us to say, “Jesus, give me faith to believe’ in your wide-angle view of the difficult things ‘that happen in my life.’ Give me your perspective so I can delight in the beautiful mosaic that one day I’m gonna understand.”

Joni’s message reminded me of the description of Jesus, who understands “the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15). She once said, “There’s no inherent goodness in my spinal cord injury; it is an awful thing, but a wonderful, miracle-making God can take something awful in a life and pronounce it good through the application of His grace.”

— Jan White has compiled a collection of her columns in her book, “Everyday Faith for Daily Life.”