Sometimes serving God really forces you to be extra creative! Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada and don’t you just love it when the Lord surprises you with a creative idea to serve Him? All it takes is a little bit of thought and a little bit of prayer, and with the Spirit’s anointing, oh, my goodness, some pretty unusual and very powerful breakthroughs can happen. I'm thinking of Beverly, a grandmother, who decided to join us on a Wheels for the World trip to deliver wheelchairs to needy disabled people in Romania. Beverly didn’t have any occupational or physical therapy skills; she wasn’t a seating mechanic; she didn’t even sign up to help with administration. Beverly decided she wanted to travel with us to serve on the prayer team that went to Romania along with those wheelchairs. It meant gathering every morning to pray over the physical therapists, pray for the families that would be arriving with their disabled children, and then pray over each wheelchair. It was a blessed time and Beverly really felt like a part of the team.
But halfway through the trip, she asked God to show her how she might serve in a more “hands-on” way. She wanted to connect more closely, more physically with the mothers and fathers; and, yes, even the grandparents that were arriving with the disabled kids needing wheelchairs. Beverly turned to the Lord and He gave her a marvelous little idea – she remembered the photograph in her purse of her grandson who has severe disabilities. It was, in fact, her grandson’s disability that had drawn her to our ministry in the first place. Beverly was pretty close to this young man, and thought his photo might connect her more closely with the parents. So Beverly took it out of her purse, walked over to a Romanian family with a disabled child, and showed it to the parents and grandparents. She couldn’t speak their language, but immediately this family just opened up and clung to her; there was this instant kindred spirit with her, and, oh, the tears began to flow – here was an American woman who truly understood their plight.
Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” and that’s exactly what Beverly was doing. And when you fulfill the law of Christ which, of course, is love… well, you can be sure you’ll sense the presence of Jesus, the blessing of the Holy Spirit. For the rest of that day and the remaining days of our wheelchair distribution, Beverly fulfilled her role on the prayer team, but she also fulfilled the law of Christ, giving His love and empathy to every Romanian parent and grandparent that arrived with their disabled child.
Friend, think about your service to the Lord and how you can stretch your thinking to be even more creative. Ask God to show you new, fresh ways of ministering in His name – for you, too, will know the blessing of God as you do. Oh, and if you’d like to see what goes on at one of our wheelchair distributions, I want to give you one of our Gospel bracelets – some people in Romania cannot read and so when we present the salvation message, we did so using a Gospel bracelet – I'll send you several; just visit our radio page at joniandfriends.org. Oh, and if Beverly were here right now, she would tell you that, yes, there are all sorts of unusual opportunities for you to serve with us, especially with Wheels for the World. Right now we’re delivering wheelchairs in Ghana and next week we’ll be in Haiti. Find out how you can join Beverly in this creative and unusual outreach by visiting joniandfriends.org. And of course while you are there don’t forget to ask for your free Gospel bracelets. It’s such a simple tool, but oh, my goodness, it can change a person’s life forever, so visit me today at joniandfriends.org.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends