Welcome to Joni and Friends, one of the best circles of fellowship you’ll find anywhere…
And that’s the truth! I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I get so blessed, so encouraged, so uplifted by the wonderful comments so many of you post on my radio page at joniandfriendsradio.org. Really! I love reading what you have been learning or how you’ve been encouraged by these messages each day. Because being in this wheelchair, I want to meet other people who are in the fellowship of sharing in Christ's sufferings… I want to hear what others are discovering in God's Word… or how they are drawing closer to Christ through the hardships because it helps me.
Like this comment from Sue who listens over WXML – she posted this on my radio page and, wow, I just happened to read it on a day when I really needed a boost. Sue wrote, “Joni, I enjoy listening to your messages and get a lot of encouragement from them. I suffer from neuropathy in my feet which is very painful. It’s painful to walk, sit and even when I lie down. I’ve tried many kinds of drugs and vitamins but nothing works. I’ve asked for prayer many times but still I’m in pain. God did heal me of cancer back in 1999, [but He hasn’t seen fit to heal me of chronic pain]. It’s not for us to question the wisdom of God as to why some get healed and some do not, but [what helps is], I remember the flogging Jesus went through, carrying His cross to Calvary, the crown of thorns placed on His head and the spear put in His side and He said to the people standing there, ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing.’ So, Joni, my small cross (and it is small) with the pain in my feet is nothing next to the cross Jesus bore when He paid for my sins. So I try not to complain but try to encourage others and help those less fortunate than I am. I pray for your ministry that God will continue to bless you and encourage you. Love and prayers, Sue.”
Thanks for that, Sue. Your words reminded me of something a saint-of-old once wrote. I think it was Thomas Merton and he said, “Our afflictions only become less in our eyes when we look upon the affliction of someone else who suffers more. This is why God bids us look at the cross for no matter how much we suffer, we will never find one who has suffered greater than the affliction Christ endured on His cross.” And wow, is that true. And I know when I’m in pain – and I have a feeling Sue does this, too – when I’m in pain, my thoughts are scattered; my emotions are frantic; my mind is overwhelmed with anxiety until I look at Christ. He is the only one who calms my thoughts, unites my heart, quiets my emotions, and settles my mind down to the point where, well… I can endure the pain. So like Sue, I would encourage you today to follow the lead of Isaiah 46 where it says, “Fix your mind, take it to heart,” and then in Hebrews 3, “Fix your thoughts on Jesus.” Did you get that? Your mind, your heart, and emotions and then, finally, it says in Hebrews12:2, “… fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross... consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Friend, think about a greater suffering – consider Jesus – and, like Sue, you will not lose heart! Hey, if you’d like to share your thoughts along these lines, I would like to hear from you. You can just write me at Joni and Friends, P. O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376 or you can just come by our website and post your comments and believe me, I’ll read them. And until I hear from you, think of the greater affliction… think of Jesus, the perfecter of your faith.
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JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
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