Welcome to a new season, friend, welcome to summer!
Can you believe it? Here we are entering a new season of the year. Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I love the easy, breezy days of summer. I always remember, though, that this is the season when everything changed for me – back in the summer of 1967 when I stood poised on that raft anchored a short distance from shore; that raft from which I took the dive that broke my neck, landing me in a wheelchair. I sometimes look back on that moment, recalling those last couple of minutes before my feet left that raft – back then never would I have dreamed that in the next instant my whole life would change forever.
You know, when I landed in the hospital, I really struggled, wondering where God was in all of it. I would look back, remembering standing on that raft and thinking that God had turned his back on me… that he wasn’t watching… that he had gotten distracted, that he was tired of me, or maybe had become more interested in some more obedient Christian. I figured that he didn’t even know I was on that raft because, well, maybe he had gotten involved with more important things in the world like fulfilling prophecy in the Middle East or something. Yep, back then I decided that when my feet left that raft and I took the dive that changed my life, it was just one of those details that somehow escaped the Lord. Somehow, he missed the moment, I thought.
Maybe you sometimes catch yourself thinking the same thing. When illness comes, when anxiety threatens, when conflict disturbs your friendships, you might conclude that God has gotten bored looking after you and maybe has shifted his attention to a more “exciting” Christian. Or maybe you imagine that God becomes disgusted with your meandering obedience and decides to stand you up, leaving you to fend for yourself for a while; you can almost hear God saying, “That’ll teach you a lesson.” Look, if you think that way, don’t worry, I can identify. Those were my very thoughts I struggled with when I was first injured, lying in a hospital bed. I thought my paralysis was the result of having exasperated God so much, that he failed to stop my accident from happening just to teach me a lesson. But is that the way God does things? Does he get too busy juggling galaxies that he fails to avert the tragedies that are swimming your way?
Well, to answer this I recall vividly a friend coming into the hospital with his Bible – his name was Steve – and he asked how I was doing with the Lord, and I told him my concerns. And Steve opened his Bible to Psalm 66 where it says, “Let the sound of [God’s] praise be heard; he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.” Steve closed his Bible and said to me, “Joni, when your feet were poised on that raft, God was measuring how far your toes were from the edge. Believe me, Joni, he was there! And the fact that he could have kept your feet from slipping off that raft only proves that he has a reason, he has a purpose, he has a plan to not only preserve your life, but to use your life in a powerful way… and I, for one, can’t wait to see what he’s going to do.”
That was over four decades ago and ever since then, not once have I thought God’s turned his back on me. When my foot slipped from that raft, I stepped into a life that, now, looking back, I wouldn’t trade for anything, and I celebrate this in a wonderful little booklet that I wrote called “Keeping God’s Attention” and I’d love to send you a copy today. In it, I focus on not only Psalm 66, but several other psalms that speak of God’s attention over every detail of your life. Just visit my radio page at joniandfriends.org.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
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