Even in the darkest places, you can still look up. God will never abandon the work of his hands. He promises to fulfill his purpose for you.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, your friend who loves to sing, and I want to sing for you one of my favorite hymns.
(Joni sings:)
All the way my Savior leads me
Cheers each winding path I tread
Gives me grace for every trial
Feeds me on the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul of thirst may be
Gushing from the rock before me
Lo, a spring of joy I see.
Gushing from the rock before me
Lo, a spring of joy I see.
Oh, do I love that hymn. How well Jesus does everything in our lives. But I'll be the first to tell you, I’ll be the first to confess, that sometimes he leads me down paths of righteousness that take me into some very, very dark places. It’s like what Jesus said to Peter in John 21, "Peter, one day someone will stretch out your hands and lead you where you do not want to go."
I've had that happen; God has made me to lie down – he's led me not to sweet green pastures – but to a place where I did not want to go: flat on my back down in bed for weeks with pressure sores. Not a place where I wanted to go, but after a few days of lying flat on your back, you’ve got to start thinking – hey, God's led me here and if I'm down on my back, the only thing I can do is look up! I have to look up when I'm in bed – it’s the only physical position I can lie in. And when I'm looking up at the ceiling, when I force myself to look up [and not down], I remind myself of every encouraging Scripture I’ve ever memorized. Like, well, from Psalm 119 where it says, "You have dealt well with your servant, O Lord." I need to remember that – God's dealings with me are always well even if I am in bed surrounded by four walls. The way God deals with me is always good. How so? Well, the next verse says, "Before I was afflicted, I went astray." There is so much truth to that verse! Before hard times hit, we are so prone to wander, so prone to not stay near the Lord. But affliction – even something as dreary as lying in bed for weeks, healing a sore – even that affliction drives us closer to God.
Another Scripture that helps me to look up? Psalm 119 says, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn your statutes." Oh, friend, there's the good. That's how God deals well with us. When I am flat on my back healing a pressure sore or when I'm in bed because of pain, whether it's a day or two or sometimes a week or more, I'm able to look up because I'm learning God's statutes. I'm learning and leaning on his promises. And what do you know, most of them are from Psalm 119. Like the 50th verse, "My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise, O Lord, preserves my life." And other promises – God will never leave me. He will fulfill his purpose for me. He will carry his work in me onto completion. He'll pour out grace. Impart hope. And never abandon the work of his hands. All the way my Savior leads me and true, God may often lead us where we do not want to go into some very dark places, but believe it or not, even there, we can look up.
© Joni and Friends