If you want to keep your head above the waters of affliction, hold tightly to the Word of God. The life-giving promises of Scripture are anchors of hope that will keep you from drowning. Delight in God’s Word!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and all week I’m celebrating my birthday.
Tomorrow is gonna mark my 72nd birthday – I can’t believe it; I can hardly say that – and I’ve been whooping it up all week; I am so excited. But the more I think about it, the more I’m overwhelmed; I’m humbled; I’m grateful; I’m just laid low over the goodness of God and how he has sustained me these many years. I woke up this morning before dawn – pain does that to me – and I’m just lying there in bed, waiting on the Lord, and thinking about all the many Scriptures – you know those “anchors,” as it were, that have seen me through. Powerful anchors. Life-changing Bible verses. Words from God that have been huge over the years, and they continue to be. And as I reflected on a couple of timeless verses, I thought – well, I thought it would be good to share them with you. Because they’re pretty special to me. God has used these anchors in Scripture to push me deeper. So here they are. And I tell you, they’re big.
Psalm 119:92; it says, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.” Honestly, believe me, I would have perished. Only the Word of God has saved me. Then there’s Psalm 119:107 where it says, “I have suffered much; preserve my life, O Lord, according to your Word.” And then Psalm 119:153, “Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law.” Now have you noticed something about these verses? All three of them focus on the hope-giving power of the Word, God’s Law; his promises, his ordinances. Each one tells us to get a tight grip on the Word of God if – if – you want to keep your head above the waters of affliction. Hold onto the Bible if you don’t want to perish - if you don’t want to drown.
And you know what? It’s exactly what I do every day and also what we do at Joni and Friends. We give the hope of God’s Word to people who feel like they’re drowning, who are suffocating in their afflictions. Because I tell you – the disabled people we serve and their families – they need anchors. They need the Word of God to be huge in their lives. So at the center of everything we do, we get people with disabilities engaged with the Bible. It’s the one reason we give Bibles with every wheelchair that we deliver around the world.
And so on my birthday, I’m going to ask you to help me bless these people with disabilities across the globe with practical, hands-on help of Joni and Friends supported by the Word of God. And this week you can go to joniradio.org and donate to my birthday. ’Cause I don’t want presents; I want you to be a part of the movement, the community at Joni and Friends who are giving God’s Word and God’s compassion to those who need his love most. Believe me, look, every birthday for a quadriplegic my age is cause for celebration, so thank you for helping me widen the circle of friends who are all about reaching more people around the world with Christ's love. And as you give to my birthday, my blessing for you - my present, as it were – is straight out of Proverbs 19:17. The paraphrase goes like this; it says, “Mercy to the needy is a loan to God, and God pays back those loans in full.” Oh friend, may God repay you for helping my dream come true; the dream of reaching more people like me for the cause of Christ. So before the day is out, visit joniradio.org, and donate to the cause of Christ among the world’s disabled.
And let me share once more an anchor from God’s Word with you that has seen me through tough times. Psalm 119:92: “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.” Oh friend, help us rescue the perishing at joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends