Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I'm glad you've joined me for Joni and Friends, of course.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy holiday season to listen to a special and a very personal story. I remember, oh, back 45 years ago, that first Christmas in 1967 when they gave me a hospital pass to go home and enjoy Christmas with my family. But with me in that big oversized wheelchair, everything at home felt so different. I didn't fit underneath the dining room table. My family had set up a hospital bed in the living room. I couldn't go upstairs to see my own bedroom. For so many years I had related to my environment on my feet. I remember that night as they drove me back to the hospital after Christmas day. I kept feeling so different, so cut off from things like—like I didn't fit. I couldn't relate to my surroundings anymore. At least back at the hospital, I did fit. Yet, I didn’t like that feeling, either. I didn't know who I was now that I was paralyzed.
Sometime many weeks later, I confided all this to a Christian friend who had been coming into the hospital regularly to see me. I shared with her my struggle of not knowing who I was, and where I fit now that I was a quadriplegic. She gave me some very wise counsel. She opened up her Bible and said, “Joni, if you really need a reminder, let me tell you who you are.” And then slowly, she began to list through some Scriptures. “Joni,” she said, “you are assured in John chapter 15 that you were God's friend and in I Corinthians 6 you are united with the Lord. In Ephesians chapter 1 you are a saint set apart for God and in Acts chapter 1 it says that you are the personal witness of Jesus Christ. You, Joni, are salt and light of the earth and a member of the body of Christ. You are free forever from condemnation and a citizen of heaven. Oh, Joni, you have access to God through the Holy Spirit and are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you and you can approach the throne of grace for every need you have. Joni, you are established, anointed, and sealed by God and you can never, ever be separated from His love.”
Wow! With every statement, she read a correlating Scripture. She went on and on reminding me that I was hidden with Christ in God, that I am the branch of the true vine, and that I am God's workmanship. Best of all, in that wheelchair of mine I could be confident that the good work that God had begun in me would be perfected, and that God would never, ever abandon the work of His hands.
And friend, that is who Joni is. That is who I am. And if you feel lost and are searching for who you really are, if you don’t feel like you fit, think about all that I’ve shared today. It’s who you are, too. And just to remind you, we have listed these statements and their Scriptures, one by one, and they make (get this) the shape of a big bell—like, ring it out; sound out the Good News: you are complete in Jesus Christ. You can go to my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and download this bell. Maybe you’ll want to fold it and put it into the Christmas cards you send or just tuck it into your Bible for a ready reminder on those days when you are feeling a little disconnected. In a day when so many people are redefining themselves, we need to rehearse these marvelous truths about who we are in Christ. Oh, my goodness, we of all people are the most blessed of all! And if you want to see how blessed you are, come over to my radio page at joniandfriends.org and read for yourself—these wonderful statements and supporting Scriptures of who we are in Christ. Ring it out like a bell—you belong to God!
© Joni and Friends
Used by permission of Joni and Friends
P.O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376