Every time you trust God, worship Jesus, or go to his Word, you are pushing back darkness. Keep it up!
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Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada. I’m the one that the devil hates.
And I sense that more and more, and maybe you do, too, as you grow closer to Christ and as you speak about him more boldly or more frequently. Our adversary hates our testimonies; he despises that we are examples of what it means to trust in God and have confidence in his Word. If you are public – and I mean, really out there – with your Christian witness, the devil has you in his crosshairs. I know I’ve been his target ever since I wrote the Joni book, way back in 1976. Has Satan read my books? I seriously doubt it—there’s way too much Jesus in those pages for his liking. Nevertheless, he knows my love for the Savior, and he hates me for it.
He hates knowing that my trust in God resounds to the Father’s glory. He detests the fact that God will give me eternal reward for my perseverance these 55 years in my wheelchair. He despises the way my fellowship with Christ in His sufferings turns up the wattage on the Savior’s glory. He considers it odious that I have yielded to the Hebrews 12-type discipline of the Lord in years past, and he sneers as he watches me “walk” deeper into that fellowship of suffering with Jesus. It makes him sick. Especially since he was hoping, no doubt, that my broken neck would be my spiritual downfall. I think he feels that way about any Christian who has a disability or who suffers with pain.
And here’s why. Our adversary views disabilities as his last great stronghold to defame the good character of God. To him, suffering is that last frontier that he tries to exploit to smear God’s reputation for being trustworthy. The devil relishes in inciting people to complain against the God of the Bible; he wants them to say, “How could a good God allow my child to be born with this horrible defect?” or “How can I trust God who would permit cancer to take my husband of only six months?” or “Why would I believe in a God who includes Alzheimer’s and autism in His plans for people?!” You see, my adversary knows that the Lord has used my testimony many times, in many ways, in many nations to push back dark thinking like that. He’s certainly cognizant that the ministry of Joni and Friends has been used of God to promote His grace and his goodness among the suffering in some of the darkest corners of our world. He knows Ephesians 6:12 backward and forward, for we wrestle not against the flesh and blood of disease and disability; but we wrestle against powers and principalities that rub their hands in glee as they crush the hopes of disabled people, pushing them deeper into despair and discouragement.
So, just know that if you are dealing with physical pain or a serious medical condition; if you live with a disability or use a wheelchair, just know that you are a threat to the enemy. Every time you trust God, it irks the devil. Every time you bite your tongue from complaining and, instead, turn to Scripture to find hope, it scatters the enemy. Friend, if you have a disabling condition, your life is a battlefield upon which the mightiest forces in the universe converge in warfare. And every time you trust God, or worship Jesus, or go to his Word, you are pushing back darkness, shutting the mouth of the devil, and giving honor and glory to God. So, keep it up. For you are more than a conqueror; you are on the winning side. And one more thing: we at Joni and Friends would love to pray for you in your hardships, so share with us your prayer need today at joniradio.org. Again, that’s joniradio.org.
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