The world is a dark place. Will you succumb to the darkness or be a hope-filled ambassador of Christ? Place your confidence and hope in Christ.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I have felt so blessed all this week!
We’ve been celebrating the 40th anniversary of this radio program in a big way, and so many of you have visited Joniradio.org and have sent me the most heartwarming encouragements. Thank you! You’ve shared stories of how you’ve found hope in these brief few minutes we’ve spent together all these years. For more than 10,000 episodes, it’s been my joy to share hope in your hardship. And I want to thank this station for giving me these precious minutes so that, every weekday, I can open my heart, as well as the word of God, to you. I’m so humbled – I mean, I am really laid low – when I think of the potential one million listeners, five days a week listening to my brief messages. And the good thing is, as I look to the future, I’m still learning, I’m still growing, and I’m ready to share many more fresh insights and new stories.
And it’s needed. These are dark days filled with such uncertainty, anxiety, and yes, even great wickedness, and our faith in God and his word is being greatly tested. Will we hold fast to him when pandemics hit, prices skyrocket, divisions between us grow deeper, inflation goes through the roof? Will we hold fast to him when supply chains are interrupted, and war feels like it’s right on the horizon? Will we allow ourselves to be fearful? Or will we place our confidence in Christ? Will we complain over these hardships? Will we grumble against our neighbors? Or will we be hope-filled ambassadors of Jesus that share his peace with people? Well, I am not about to complain about my circumstances now, after all these years. I’m not about to grumble against encroaching hardships or to allow worry or anxiety to rule my day.
So, I am taking this 40th anniversary to renew my covenant with you and with the Lord Jesus, because I am a woman of Acts 20:24, really, “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace.” And I’ll be doing exactly that in the weeks, months, and, Lord willing, in the years to come here on this radio program. I’m even refining my message of hope so that a younger generation that’s floundering can find their way to Christ in our dismally dark world. There is a new, young, generation who “did not grow up with Joni,” but I believe these young people, no matter what generation), all of us, can find the grace to bite our tongues from complaining when hardships hit.
And so, for me, on this 40th anniversary, it’s a “fresh start;” and I am commemorating this milestone with a new title for our time together. We’re calling it Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. ‘Cause more than ever, people are looking for hope. With so much suffering in our world, I want to give “more reasons for the hope” that is within me, within my heart as I live every day from this wheelchair. So, thank you for being an avid listener to these, my brief messages. And tell others to meet with us for these brief moments of daily inspiration. As I look back at this anniversary week, I’m so grateful that you have shared your hope-filled words with me here at Joniradio.org. It’s been such an affirmation that God wants me to keep parking my wheelchair in front of this microphone and he wants me to keep opening my heart to you – and the word of God to you – because I really, really do love sharing the hope of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. See you next time because I’m all about sharing hope in your every hardship.
© Joni and Friends