Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and listen to the words of this beautiful hymn:
“Be still my soul the Lord is on thy side,
Bear patiently the cross of grieve or pain.
Leave to thy God, to ordain and provide,
Because in every change He faithful will remain.
Be still my soul thy best, thy heavenly friend,
Through every thorny way, leads to a joyful end.”
Wow! Now those are words that will comfort you. That’s a song I'll often sing to myself. Because there are many days when I feel the weight of suffering, whether grieving over some small ability that is now lost because of my age or physical weakness or bearing up under pain on a day when my corset (that helps me breathe) digs into my side. This beautiful hymn, the words that I just shared, those words are such a comfort to my soul, and I love singing it to myself, “Be still my soul the Lord is on thy side.”
You know, I know there are many things that I cannot do. Many things: I cannot walk or bend or lift things; I can hold hands, stoop and stretch, no skipping. But I'm not the only one. I know hundreds of others who cannot do the same: friends who have multiple sclerosis or who struggle with rheumatoid arthritis or who are nearly bedridden from chronic pain. Watching the way they quiet their own soul with scripture or the wise words to a hymn, like the one I share, watching them truly inspires me. And this is how I feel about a woman named Zuella who wrote inspirational poems way back in the early 1900's as she sat in her wheelchair, disabled by severe arthritis. And maybe your soul will be stilled and quieted this day by listening and learning from this woman who, so many years ago, wrote a poem that she called “Submission.”
Zuella writes, “I cannot walk as others do, O’er Earth's grass tufted sod; But oh, in spirit I can walk, As Enoch did, with God. I cannot run through field and lane, Or shaded woodland dim; But oh, with patience I can run, The race of life with Him. I cannot scale as others do, Your mountain’s lofty height; But I can soar above the world. By faith, to realms of light. I cannot sail to distant lands, To serve my Savior there; But from my wheelchair I can hold The heathen up in prayer. I shall not weep nor mourn my loss, Nor try to understand; But smiling, I’ll lift my face to God, And do the things I can.”
Bless Zuella’s heart; more than a hundred years later, here we are being blessed by that poem she wrote. And you can download a copy today by visiting my radio page after we’re finished here. Pass it on to a friend who is struggling to surrender their losses, their grief and pain to God. It’ll be a real blessing, I believe. Finally, remember, if you make a compromise with surrender, you can be interested in the abundant life and all the riches of freedom and love and peace, but it will be the same as looking at a lovely display in a shop window. You look through the window but do not go in and buy. That’s because you are afraid to pay the price which is, of course, is “surrender.”
Don’t forget to visit joniandfriends.org today and download a copy of Zuella’s lovely poem. And remember, to hand over everything to God may not be easy, but it can be done. And when it’s done, the riches of freedom and love and peace are yours.
© Joni and Friends
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376