Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to the New Year.
Yes, Happy New Year, friend, and I pray that this year God will bless you with health and much joy and contentment in Him, because it’s needed right now, that joy and contentment, right? I'm sure as you look back over 2013, you can see plenty of places where you were lacking God's joy and a satisfaction in your circumstances. Well, as we head into this New Year together, I want you to know that contentment—I mean a real satisfaction with God's purposes—that is possible. Remember where the apostle Paul says that he has learned the secret of being content? Well, please know that it’s not really much of a secret. Contentment is all about leaning on Jesus. Now it’s true that we don't automatically “know” the secret of being content; we do have to learn it. To learn something means more than saying, “Yeah, sure, I realize Christ is sufficient.” No, no, to learn means making choices; tough choices, and practicing those choices over and over. If you are to have contentment—that quietness of heart supernaturally given, that quietness of heart that gladly submits to God in all circumstances—then it requires putting into practice what you know.
For instance, when I learned to feed myself years ago in the hospital after I broke my neck, many times I felt like giving up. Oh my goodness, I had to wear a bib, and I ended up smearing applesauce all over my cheeks, my face, and my clothes. It landed more times on my lap than in my mouth. Learning to feed myself with my weak paralyzed arms … I didn’t want to do it, it was humiliating. And I could have given up (and many people wouldn't have blamed me), but I had to make a choice—actually, many choices: Was I going to let embarrassment over my food-smeared face dissuade me? Was I going to let disappointing failures overwhelm me? No. I decided not. I decided instead to forge ahead and trust that God was going to give me the strength to lift that spoon to my mouth. As a result, I learned how to feed myself, and today I manage a spoon quite well. And I'm content with that.
Please notice I didn't get back the use of my arms or my hands. But I did learn to be satisfied doing what I could with what little I had left. When Christ gives us strength to tackle a painful situation, gaining contentment doesn't mean losing sorrow or saying good-bye to discomfort. The Bible says you can be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” You can “have nothing, yet possess everything.” But take courage because I Timothy chapter 6 says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” I love that: it’s great gain. Yet the gain always comes through loss, doesn’t it?
No doubt this new year will have its challenges, and don't let anyone tell you that contentment comes easily. It does not; it has to be learned. In fact, it requires strength from out-of-this-world. But once you gain it, you'll never trade that settled contentedness for anything. Friend, if you want to learn to be content in the middle of loss, sorrow, pain or discomfort, I invite you to be a good student of the Word in 2014 and learn this lesson about contentment. The more time you spend in the Bible, the more your faith will grow. After all, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. So take a giant step this first day of the New Year and join my husband Ken and me in reading through the Bible in a year in 2014; just go to my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and download the reading schedule. And while you’re there, get a jumpstart on your Bible study by asking for your copy of the “Bible Overview” pamphlet. It’s all for you today—New Year’s Day—at joniandfriends.org where we’ve been bringing the Gospel to the disability community for 35 years!
© Joni and Friends, 2014
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376