Hi, friends, this is Joni Eareckson Tada, and welcome to Joni and Friends!
I may have told you this before, but on my way to the office of Joni and Friends every day, I pass a show-ring for horses – it’s part of Old Agoura, where a lot of people keep horses. There aren’t many trails in the community, so the city of Old Agoura put up this exercise ring where folks ride their horses.
The other day, coming to work, I saw an instructor in the ring with about five or six young people on horseback – they had their black hard hats on and their knee pads. Very safe. It made me smile and think back on the way I learned how to ride a horse when I was their age, actually a lot younger. When I was four years old, my father would set me behind him in his saddle on top of his horse, Cherokee, and he would tell me to hold tight to his leather belt.I would wrap my little fingers around his belt, press myself against the back of his saddle, and off we’d go! Up and down hills, splashing through streams, galloping away. I’d squeal with delight at being able to ride a real horse sitting behind my daddy.
Looking back, little wonder I didn’t break my neck on a horse, rather than a diving accident. But to tell the truth, I never fell off from behind Daddy. As long as I had a good grip on his belt, I was safe, secure, and immovable.
Now, many years later, I don’t ride horses. I ride a wheelchair, as you know. And the ups and downs that I go through are not trails up and down a hill – it’s the ups and downs, in and out of valleys of discouragement. But guess what: I’m still holding on to a belt. I’ve got a grip on Ephesians 6:14 which says, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.” I love that Scripture! And it’s no mistake that truth is likened to a belt in Ephesians 6. Because it’s truth onto which everything else is attached – the sword of the Spirit and the breastplate of righteousness. If you are walking in God’s truth, you can go through anything and you will remain safe, secure, and immovable.
And the truth is simply this: God is in control (that’s Ephesians 1:11). God is not out to harm you (that’s Jeremiah 29:11). God will work it all out for your good (that’s Romans 8:28). God will lead you through the dark times and not let you go (that’s Psalm 23). God will give you power and strength (that’s 1 Corinthians 10:13).God will not abandon you in the midst of your suffering (that’s Hebrews 13:5). All of these verses – and so many more – make up the belt of truth… the belt I hold on to when I feel like I’m being tossed this way or that.
What are you holding on to today? If you’re floundering, if you’re feeling a little unsafe or insecure, get a grip, get a hold on the belt of truth.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends