Joni

 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:5....."You need hope? Sure you do. You've been dying long enough in your darkness." Joni Eareckson Tada

I spoke with someone the other day who's walking through a wilderness they never dreamed they'd enter with affliction they never dreamed they'd experience. They're not alone, and their pain is very real and intense. It's to them that I direct Tada's words.

Today I want to briefly share 4 quotes from Eareckson Tada that have impacted me. I hope they minister to you if you find yourself in need of hope today.

"There's nothing sweeter than finding my Savior in the middle of my hellish circumstances." We can find many things in our suffering, almost all of them destructive. Self-pity. Anger. Bitterness. Despair. Too few of us find Him. Tada often speaks of how she is often awakened at night suffering great bodily pain. She refuses to yield to its tyranny but focuses on His precious promises to her and speaking them to her pain and suffering. She'll also sing songs and hymns that have ministered to her soul. She has often said that she has experienced her sweetest fellowship with Him in the midst of her suffering. We can as well. Do we dare to face our suffering with the hope and faith that she does?

Jesus, come meet me in my pain." Oftentimes, her suffering is so real and deep that all she can do is invite her Lord to come and meet with her, fellowship with her, in the midst of her sufferings. To experience what Scripture says is "the fellowship of His suffering." He has never failed to do so. In our pain, in your pain, will you invite Him to come, or will you demand that He go?

"My Jesus helps me to suffer well." Suffer well? How? Tada means that in her suffering, she doesn't turn from Him, blame Him, or accuse Him. She journeys more deeply in Him. She embraces a deeper intimacy than she'd known to that point. In her pain, He reveals more of Himself to her, gives her a greater knowledge of Him than she'd ever had. Her pain is not destroying her. It is making ever more whole in Christ.


"Jesus will defang your pain." It is the purpose of Satan to destroy you in the midst of your suffering. He has succeeded in doing so to too many in their pain. They'ver given up, turned back, or they simply are waiting to die. Tada has allowed, and continues to allow Christ to use her pain and suffering as a means to accomplishing His eternal purposes for her. Purpose she would never have realized apart from her suffering. He makes a toothless lion out of the devil.

These are just four of the powerful thoughts Joni Eareckson Tada has on suffering. If they speak to you, I would encourage you to view her video series titled "Songs Of Suffering." In her, you will see Jesus.

Blessings,
Pastor O