Celebrate National Radio Day with Joni as she talks about her sweet friend Elizabeth. By the grace of God, she unexpectedly found hope and healing through Joni’s voice on the airwaves.
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SHAUNA: I’m Shauna with Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Thank you for joining us. Joni, it’s National Radio Day! And I know we hear so many amazing stories from our listeners. I’ve bet you’ve got one for us today.
JONI: I sure do. A young woman named Elizabeth in her early 20s and is very much looking forward to college this fall – that is, she hopes. You see, a year and a half ago, Elizabeth and her parents discovered she had a brain tumor. And although the family knows Jesus and are confident in him, this tumor raised questions for Elizabeth. She was starting to tire easily, experience numbness in her arm; and she wondered why God’s plan included something so dangerous as a tumor in her brain. Would she lose movement in her arm? Would it harm her speech? How could God be good in all this? Elizabeth needed solid answers about the sovereignty of God – and the how, and the why of it all! But where could she find the help she needed? Well, I’m going to let Elizabeth answer this in her recent letter to me.
She said, “Dear Joni, just a note here to say a heartfelt thank you for letting the light of Christ shine so beautifully through your life’s example and ministry, particularly your radio program. God has used your radio messages as a direct answer to prayer in my life as I battled the grief and discouragement that came along with my brain tumor diagnosis a year and a half ago. So many days since then God has used your words on the radio to speak truth into my life and instill hope back into my heart. May the Lord continue to bless you, Joni! With deep gratitude, Elizabeth Wilson.” Now, when I read that, tears filled my eyes, and I still get choked up because always and always when I put these radio programs together, I’m asking God about you, the listener. I’m thinking about you. I’m imagining the struggles that you are facing. The questions you have, the answers you need.
But let me get back to Elizabeth. She was so blessed by my radio programs, she asked her dad if he would take her to see our Joni and Friends headquarters here in California, where I do my recordings. And her father, bless his heart, flew with her from Indiana to our International Disability Center. They did not even ask to see me; but when I heard their story and when I heard that they were in the building, man, I stopped everything. And I parked my wheelchair next to Elizabeth and we had a long, good talk, including tears and smiles, and a great time of prayer.
“What led me here was God’s mercy and a miraculous answer to prayer on the radio program. I was praying for God to send me some encouragement and some help in my specific challenges. And I stumbled into the radio program on my phone, and it was such an encouragement, and it was perfect for that day and has been perfect on so many days since.”
God says in Isaiah 55:11, “I send out my word and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” And on this National Radio Day, I want to thank this station for airing trustworthy Christ-centered programs. Because the Word of God is not passive, it’s active. It’s not random or ineffective but is always directed toward specific goals. It actively accomplishes exactly what God intends it to do. And hey, do me a favor: contact this station here and thank them for sharing God’s Word every day – it’s the Word that accomplishes great things in the lives of people like Elizabeth in your community.
© Joni and Friends