When it’s in your power to do good, don’t wait—Proverbs 3:27 calls you to act and bless others ASAP!
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Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, encouraging you today with Proverbs 3:27.
I keep a list of girlfriends who live with quadriplegia – I pray for them, I’m inspired by them, and I learn a lot from them. I’m thinking of Becky, one friend who broke her neck way back in the late 1970s. Although she is what I call a “pro” at living with quadriplegia, it’s not without its big problems. Earlier this year, she developed serious breathing issues and could not sit up in her manual wheelchair [every time she did, Becky got terribly dizzy and felt like she was gasping for breath]. And so, my friend had to be bedridden for more than three months. One morning, when I was texting her, she said that she wished she had a power wheelchair that could recline [so that she could still sit up but also have the capability to lay back with the touch of a button]. When I read her text aloud to Ken Tada, he looked straight at me and said, “Well, you’ve got a recliner wheelchair that you’re not using. Why not loan it to her?” I knew he was right. But I thought about the long distance we’d have to drive to deliver the reclining wheelchair. It would take our whole Sunday.
But that’s exactly when Proverbs 3:27 came to mind. It’s a verse I learned way back in high school and it says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” Let me say that again, “Don’t withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.”
Proverbs 3 emphasizes the importance of generosity and helping others when you have the ability to help, whether it’s with your money or your equipment or your time. It’s a call to be proactive in your service and generosity, and to not delay or neglect opportunities to do good when they arise. It’s a reminder that we should not delay in treating others in need with kindness. James 4:17 says pretty much the same thing. It says, “If anyone, knows the good they ought to do and does not do it, it is sin for them.” Well, it goes without saying that on Sunday after church, Ken Tada put my reclining wheelchair in the van, and I squeezed in right next to it in my chair. And off we went – the long 2-hour drive to Becky’s house. When we arrived, her caregiver transferred her into the power wheelchair, and after making a couple of adjustments, it fit perfectly. I cannot begin to tell you how good we felt on the way home. And imagine if we had withheld that specialized wheelchair from her, when it was in our power to make a difference. Had we just let it go and not helped her? It would’ve been a form of sin according to James. And Ken and I certainly did not want that on our eternal account! “So, oh, dear God, all the many times you convict me, or tell me, or show me how I can help someone when it is in my power to do it – please give me the courage [and the joy] to move forward and make a difference.
Oh, by the way, Becky’s breathing problems are much better, and she benefited enormously from that recliner wheelchair. In fact, she’s going to go ahead and purchase one. And Ken Tada and me? Well, we will be making one more trip down to where she lives to pick up that chair because I’m not too far myself from using it! So, pray for Becky if you would, that her breathing [like mine] will continue to improve. And look for ways that you can put Proverbs 3:27 to work in the lives of the people that you know. And God bless you as you do from all of us at joniradio.org. And again, that’s joniradio.org.
© Joni and Friends