Hi, this is Joni and I love reading your comments on my blog.
Welcome to "Joni and Friends" where it’s all about us friends encouraging one another in the Word. And it happens all the time whenever I read the blog on our Joni and Friends’ website. Like this posting that was put up by Adrienne. She writes, “Joni, I feel like I have ‘known’ you since I became a believer in 1973. And since I worked in Christian bookstores I continued to ‘grow with you.’ Do you ever not want to glorify God in your pain and disability? Do you ever say, Joni, ‘I am just tired of being used as an example, tired of being the spokesperson for disability and pain?’ Do you ever say to God I just want a ‘normal life?’ I hope this does not sound arrogant to ask you these very personal questions, but I just am amazed at the focus you keep on glorifying God. How do you maintain that focus? I know that hunger is in my heart, also, and I am growing and learning. So, please teach me, dear sister in the Lord. Thanks, Adrienne.”
You know, I hear that from a lot of people, and I don’t mind the question; I think it’s very honest. But let me share with you how I honestly wrote back. I mean, I’ve got the email right in front of me here. I said to her, “Dear, Adrienne, Thanks so much for journeying alongside me these many years as you read my books and followed my life and ministry. Now to your question: Do I ever feel like not ‘honoring’ God with my disability? Like, do I ever get tired of being a role model of inspiration? Well, Adrienne, although there are days when I feel like disobeying and grumbling and complaining, I bite my tongue. And it’s not because I'm thinking of how that might tarnish my record as a role model of inspiration.
“The truth is Adrienne, I don’t really focus on my example of being an inspiration to others – although that’s very important; instead, my motivation for obeying God is, well, it’s on him, and not others. I wake up in the morning and tell my soul to stand at attention, to come into alignment with the Lord, whether I feel like it or not. I keep my focus on heaven, on the finish line, on the eternal prize, on the high calling of honoring the Lord, just like it says in Philippians 3:14. Honestly, Adrienne, when I keep my focus on those things, it is so invigorating, so exciting to face the day, knowing that I’ve got a huge eternal purpose for ‘hanging in there with a smile.’ It’s all about the big picture. Like Pastor Warren Wiersbe once wrote, he said, ‘When you and I hurt deeply, what we really need is not an explanation from God but a revelation of God. We need to see how great God is; we need to recover our lost perspective on life. Things get out of proportion when we are suffering, and it takes a vision of something bigger than ourselves to get life's dimensions adjusted again.’ Well there you have it Adrienne, if all I did was focus on influencing others, I’d get tired of that real fast. But I have a vision of something bigger, and that gives me energy to keep striving on and pressing on so that God gets the honor and glory.” And then I signed it, “Thanks for writing, Joni.”
And, hey, if you’d like something that’ll give you a vision of the bigger picture, then today’s your last day to visit my radio page at joniandfriends.org and ask for your free copy of “Bible Promises for Hope & Courage.” Keep the focus on Jesus and his Word today – keep his glory and his honor at the front of your thinking. For when you do, your life can’t help but be an inspiration to others.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends