Memorizing Scripture can be a hard and long task. But, if you apply it to your life and pray about it, it can help you persevere to move forward, whatever the hardship.
SHAUNA: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope with a word from Joni about memorizing Scripture.
JONI: You know, one of the things I love about my husband Ken is that he really enjoys memorizing passages of God's Word. And I especially love it when he and I do it together. Like recently, we decided to memorize James 1. Of course, the first part is where it says to “Count it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds. Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Well, I decided to get a little bit of a jump start on Ken and memorize that before him. But no more did I commit to heart those verses than I started to experience a terrible flare-up with pain in my hip. And suddenly, with that twinge of pain, it hit me that this James 1 exercise was about a lot more than just you know, memorizing a bunch of verses, as though I were ticking off a list; marking verses off as though I were marking time. No, no, no! Like, here’s one thing I said I would do, and I’ve done it, so on to the next thing, on to the next few verses!
No, rather, with that flare-up in my hip, I could instantly tell that the Holy Spirit wanted me not just to be a hearer, not just be a memorizer of God's Word, but to actually do what it says. And so I went back and examined exactly why I should count something like “pain” in my hip as pure joy. And of course, I found out in verse three. There, God says that the only way I can develop perseverance and maturity is to have my faith tested. If I say I believe something, if I take pride in memorizing something in the Bible it counts for zilch; it counts for nada; nothing unless I take it to heart and actually live it out. James 1 is just a resounding cymbal, a lot of words unless I do; that is—I believe and apply it to my life. I won’t grow unless I act on what Scripture says.
So, I stopped and prayed about it, and as I did, I could sense the Spirit telling me that he wanted to develop my ability to persevere, and it meant this special test of faith. Would I, could I count this new level of pain in my hip as something I could welcome as a friend? Could I count it all joy, knowing that my faith was at stake; knowing that I wouldn’t learn to persevere unless I embraced this difficult thing, not with a complaining spirit, but with a good attitude? And so, I did. Every time I rehearsed those few verses I had memorized in James 1, I prayed, “Lord, I’m going to invite you to have your way with this new level of pain in my hip, knowing that if I pass the test [if I don’t complain and allow myself to feel defeated], then, my faith is going to grow, and so will my ability to persevere, and that’s what I need, I need to persevere, to keep on going, to keep moving forward, whatever the hardship.”
SHAUNA: And friend, maybe you’re in the middle of memorizing a portion of Scripture. It could be just a Bible verse or two. Go to joniradio.org today. Click the “contact us” button and tell us what you’re memorizing. Also tell us how you’re applying it. How has it changed you? How you are stepping out and inviting the Holy Spirit to make that Scripture come alive in your life? Really, we would love to hear from you. And we want to pray for you too. So you can share your prayer request at joniradio.org. Remember, that’s joniradio.org. Thanks for listening today on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope.
© Joni and Friends