Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to "Joni and Friends" where as you well know, we always love to be singing a song to Jesus.
I must tell Jesus all of my trials;
I cannot bear these burdens alone;
In my distress He kindly will help me;
He ever loves and cares for His own.
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
I cannot bear my burdens alone;
I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus!
Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.
Okay, I want you to picture something: Friday morning comes up shining with sun-streams through your kitchen window, washing the walls in a golden glow. Birds are chirping. The sky is blue. Your screen door is slightly open and you can tell that fall is here. The trees are turning colors and everything smells so fresh. Coffee is perking and sweet rolls are warming in the toaster oven, and your heart rises; oh, my goodness, it rises so easily in praise to God and you say out loud, "Oh, Lord, what a beautiful day. You are so wonderful!" And He is. After all, there are no disagreements hanging over your head. Your heart feels free of any guilt. You woke up without a backache. Bills are paid, your husband is happy; your kids are off to school. But, oh, what a difference 24 hours will make, right! Because one short little day later from now, you could be wishing that Saturday morning would just go away. Because something will no doubt happen – it always does – something in your day is going to throw you for a loop. It’s that old thing about how one must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God, and those hardships always seem to come in the most inappropriate times and they always hurt. Your heart sinks and you feel discouraged, even a little depressed. And you stand slump-shouldered at the kitchen sink, and think to yourself, "God where are you, where did you go? Where are you when I need you?" This scenario I just described happens to Christians all the time – and often in a lot less than 24 hours.
Why is it that when things are good we feel that God is good; and when things are bad, it feels like God has taken time off from us? Well, maybe it's because we're way too prone to let circumstances - whether good or bad - dictate our view of God. We let hormones set the stage, or our emotions direct our thinking. Moods shift and swing; they're influenced by everything from a death in your family to too much sugar in our cereal. Feelings can’t always be trusted.
And this is why I love this hymn so much. Because you gotta run to, you gotta tell Jesus! Jesus is the same steadfast, good God on a sullen Saturday morning that He was on a carefree-wheeling Friday. So pick a mood, any mood. Look at your circumstances today and say, "Where in the Bible can I thumbtack this mood of mine?" And, then take a breath, breathe a prayer for guidance, match your heart rhythm to His today and watch this day shine with His glory! And if you need a little encouragement to do that, don’t forget that today is your last day to pick up your encouragement package from my radio page at joniandfriends.org. And then remember to tell Jesus everything.
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376