Jesus loved you enough to die for you, so you can trust that he will take good care of your future. Be at peace and cast every concern on the Lord!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a few words about your future.
And the future is upon us, isn’t it, as we head deeper into the new year? And I will admit; I’ll confess here that with every year that I am in this wheelchair, sometimes I look to the future and I wonder, “Lord, I’m not getting younger, and things are not getting easier. You’ve been so kind, so generous to keep me healthy this long. You’ve kept my cancer at bay. And so far, my last broken bone was in 2005. Two bouts with COVID, but thankfully even that’s in the past. So, how much longer can I lean on your extraordinary mercy toward me? Lord, what hard things will this new year hold?” Now, it’s not like I’m fearful about the future; far from it. It’s more like, you know, “bracing myself” for what may lie ahead.
Well, I was sharing this with Jim Sanders, the producer of this radio program. And he responded with an interesting story; it was a conversation he’d had years ago with Bill Bright, the Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, which is now called Cru. Back in the 50s, this man of great Christian character, Bill, had started Campus Crusade as a way of evangelizing college students and his work had spread to universities around the world. But now, Bill Bright was in his 80s, in a wheelchair, and struggling with breathing problems. He had an oxygen tank in tow and was wearing a cannula so he could breathe. Jim Sanders, knowing this Christian statesman to be a man of wisdom and humility, asked Bill, he said, “Bill, what concerns do you have about your future?” And this gentle man in his wheelchair did not have to think about it; he replied, “Well, Jim, I have no concerns. I’ve been bought and paid for at a great price; and now, all my concerns are in the hands of God who owns my life.”
Jim shared that with me in passing, as if an afterthought. But, man, those words brought such comfort to my heart. What’s more, Bill’s words were filled with truth; and it helped realign my perspective on my own future. My quadriplegic body, with all its issues and aches and pains; my body is not my own. The Holy Spirit tells me in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.” And as I look to this coming year with all its questions about “what if” or what may happen, the way I can glorify God is to trust him with all my concerns. If God loved me enough to send his Son, Jesus, to die a painful death so that I might have life, he has proved his intentions. If he loved me enough to die for me, then he has showed himself absolutely trustworthy, and he will take good care of my future. And so, as I look to the year ahead and all its challenges, I’ve been telling God out loud, “Lord, I have no concerns. You have them all in your good hands. My only concern is now to trust you day by day as I head into this new year.”
And I pray that you, too, will do the same as you look to this month and beyond. Acknowledge that God is more concerned about you and your needs than you ever will be, and he can be trusted. When you and I do that, we’ve got courage, we’ve got a settled heart, we’ve got peace of mind, and zero anxieties about the future. So be encouraged by 1 Corinthians 6 and all that it implies, for friend, you are not your own. You were bought with a price – and oh, what a price! And now, simply glorify God by resting your concerns in his everlasting arms. It’s something to remember all year long.
© Joni and Friends