JONI: Al, I love it when God’s Word comes alive right before your eyes, you know what I mean?
AL: Indeed.
JONI: It says it is living and active, right?!
AL: That’s right.
JONI: It sure is neat when you actually see its life kind of — boing! — “come to life!”
AL: Got any illustrations from Scripture?
JONI: The other day I was reading Luke 5:18‑20 where it says, “Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus but couldn't reach him. So they went up on the roof above him, took off some tiles and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his sleeping mat, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, ‘My friend, your sins are forgiven!’”
AL: I remember that story — it’s a great one. But what does that have to do with today?
JONI: No sooner had I put my Bible down, when I got on the phone with an old friend of mine — a quadriplegic named Bob. He’s been paralyzed as many years as I but, unfortunately, has had a lot (and I mean a lot) of health problems. Bob has been in bed for almost 2 years, struggling with pressure sores. Anyway! I told him on the phone that I was going to be up in his area (Northern California) for a speaking engagement. When I told him where the church was located, he said with surprise in his voice, “Why, that church isn’t but a few miles from here.”
“No chance you could come, huh?” I said. There was silence on the other end. I heard a sigh and then Bob shared, “Joni, I’m in bed...I can’t go anywhere.”
Well! That’s when good old Luke 5:18 — I mean — came springing to life. I suddenly remembered that, for those 4 friends, a bed was no barrier. “Who needs a wheelchair?! Bob doesn’t need a wheelchair to get out,” I thought. I moved quickly back to the telephone and called one of our Joni and Friends team members up in the Bay area. I said, “Kim, I know you’re busy organizing a lot of things for my speaking engagement at that church, but here’s the situation: I know this guy named Bob (blah blah blah).” I hung up and left it in her hands.
A week later when I was up in Northern California, at that church, sitting out in the foyer and greeting people as they were coming in, I got the surprise of my life. (AL: Don’t tell me...) There, Kim and four other friends came in wheeling a man on a long ambulance gurney – you know, the kind you see on ER? I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Bob! You made it!” He gave me a big grin and corrected me, “No, Joni, your friends here were the ones who made it happen.” I looked at Kim with tears filling her eyes — turns out that after I called her about Bob’s need, she hot-tailed it on the phone, got a hold of a nurse friend, found a few strong, able guys, and before you know it, had convinced Bob that he could leave his bed and come to the meeting on a stretcher.
Yes, it was an example of God’s Word coming to life, Al. But verse 22 took it a notch higher.
AL: What does that verse say?
JONI: If you had noticed the smile on my friend Kim, you would have seen it written all over her face, ’cause verse 22 says, “When Jesus saw their faith.” The Word of God came alive that night... and not but eight weeks later, my friend Bob took it up a notch, too. He’s up in his wheelchair.
AL: This story about your friend Bob reminds me that Psalm 40:17 is certainly alive and active as the Joni and Friends team in the Bay area of Northern California keeps reaching out to more people like Bob. (JONI: You got it!) “I am weak, yet the Lord is thinking about me right now! O my God, you are my helper.”
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends