Even in your suffering, you can share the Gospel. Trusting God through your suffering is a powerful testimony to a watching world, so ask God to use you to show others that the Good News is true!
Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada with a word about healing.
Because often I meet people who ask, “Joni, don’t you want to get healed?” Well, duh—I wouldn’t be human if I didn't want to get healed. And, in fact, there was a season in my life when I begged God to heal me. I would say for the first, oh, five to ten years in my wheelchair, it was the major deal in all my prayers, and when it appeared that I would never walk again, I still kept praying for healing; I at least wanted my hands to get healed. And one of the key verses I used in my prayers was John 14:13-14 where Jesus says, "I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." Well, that was quite a promise! Jesus will give us whatever we ask, as long as we ask in his name?!
Well, I kept doing just that—asking in his name, but nothing happened, so I dug deeper, confessing, repenting of whatever extra sin might stand in the way. But still, my feet and my hands did not respond. I wondered what I was doing wrong. I don’t know, maybe you've experienced that same thing with that verse. You've asked for something important—like healing or whatever—you ask it in Jesus’ name, and you ask it, that it might bring glory to God, but still, all you get is silence or perhaps the reply from God is, "no." “But Jesus,” you think, “you said you would do whatever I ask in your name. What gives?!”
So I went back to John 14, and this time I read all the way around it. I discovered that the context is all about "giving the Gospel." After all, this chapter was our Savior's last chance to teach his disciples about the main thing. And the main thing, we'd all agree, is his Gospel. Jesus was so passionate about his disciples giving the Good News, that he inasmuch said, “Look, if there are mountains in your way, I’ll move them. If there’s an obstacle in your path, I’ll help you get rid of it. If it means advancing the kingdom of God, I’ll do it.” Jesus was adamant about this because this is what would give his Father the most glory.
Once this fact sank in, it made my wheelchair seem insignificant in comparison. My problems didn’t seem so important. What’s more, I began to grasp the fact that my paralysis was part of God's strategy to further his Gospel. After all, it says in 1 Peter 2:21-22, "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps." Just as Christ suffered yet trusted the Father, I am to follow in his steps on the road marked with suffering and trust my heavenly Father, even with quadriplegia.
And it’s a lesson for you. When we Christians trust the Lord in our hardships, it showcases to a skeptical, cynical, and unbelieving world that God is worth trusting and the Bible is worth believing. The world cannot argue when it sees people in pain rejoice in their God. Friend, no one goes to Christ’s heaven who does not first share in Christ’s sufferings. And there’s a good reason for it. Heaven is going to be populated with people who opened their eyes to God because they saw the power and the reality of his Gospel demonstrated through you. And that’s worth being healed on your feet any day.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this important topic of healing. Just go to my radio page at joniradio.org. And, hey, if you have experienced an extraordinary physical healing, I rejoice with you! Just remember to make that part of your testimony, because the important thing is not primarily your healing, but that it is used to advance the Gospel of Christ. Let’s keep the main thing the main thing!
© Joni and Friends