Although the hope of heaven seems far and distant, it can be near. Ask God to stir up your joy over your hope in Jesus!
Forced bed rest has never been high on my list of favorite activities.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and if I needed any reminder of that fact, it came back to me when I read an email from my friend Amy. She’s a teenage quadriplegic who’s ventilator-dependent and she’s got a nasty pressure sore. The ulcer has gotten so deep that she can no longer sit up in her wheelchair. The doctor has assigned her to bed for the next four months. And my heart goes out to Amy. When she was just three years old, an improperly anchored swing set toppled over on her and it paralyzed her instantly. Over the years, Amy has struggled with ups and downs. But in this email, she asked for my advice, knowing that I have “been there” with stubborn pressure sores of my own.
And so I wrote back to her; I said, “Amy, one of the things you must do is stay focused. Don’t let your mind wander into depression and boredom. And I have a secret that helps me: I choose a Bible verse and I memorize it. In fact, during a recent four-week stint in bed, I picked Romans 12:12: ‘Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.’” And I went on to tell Amy that, I don’t know, we can all understand what it means to be patient in affliction, right? Or faithful in prayer? But what does it mean to be joyful in hope? It isn’t easy for Amy right now. She doesn’t want to be paralyzed, doesn’t want to be on a ventilator just to stay alive, and certainly she doesn’t relish the idea of lying in bed for sixteen straight weeks. Why is it so difficult to be joyful in hope? Well, simply this: the focus of our hope is yet to be fulfilled. We don’t yet possess, or even see, that for which we hope. I mean, looking back, when I was in bed for four weeks, it hit home that God wants me to be joyful about future things in spite of my present circumstances. So, the secret is embracing the glorious hope nestled just beyond the heavenly horizon: one day – I keep telling myself – there’ll be no more pain, no more tears or sorrow. No more death, disease, or disability. Peace will flow, as wide and deep as the Mississippi River, and joy’s going to spring up like an artesian fountain, and we’ll reign with King Jesus forever.
Okay, does the idea of the Lord’s return and heavenly glories put a smile on your face? Well, although the hope of heaven seems so far and distant, it can be near and real as you stir up your joy over that in which you hope. That’s what it means to be joyful in hope! You’re going to get a new body, a new home, a new heart, new ways to worship and serve, new friends from every tribe, tongue, and nation. So, join me and my friend Amy today, would you, in staying focused? Ask the Lord to stir a lively vision of heaven in your heart. Where all your hopes will find their fulfillment in the blessed hope, the Lord Jesus, who will welcome you home, dry every tear, and give you rest from all your struggles. Think about that, focus on that, and then, you will be joyful in your hope. And although she’s been months in bed, Amy knows that her whole life of paralysis will melt away like a dream as light from an eternal morning streams into her window.
So, friend, if you are not very joyful in your hope, pray with me right now, would you? And say, “Jesus, if you want me to have joy growing out of real hope, it’s going to take – I know – a long, hard road to get there, so I agree with you right here and now: the hardships I face today are for my own good. But please help me, Jesus, because when pain comes, when boredom invades, when discouragement creeps into the room, I so often lose my focus. So, Jesus, lift my sight to the wonders of my heavenly home. Stir my hopes and give me your joy.”
© Joni and Friends