Hi, this is Joni and you are listening to "Joni and Friends.”
You know, even though I share stories from my wheelchair here on “Joni and Friends,” I really hope these stories speak to your heart, because we all deal with limitations and frustrations. And who knows, what I say from this chair and from God's Word might help you trust God more completely with your own hardships. I just want to pass on the encouragement. Like through the following story…
Some time ago, Ken and I invited two couples from out of town over for a backyard dinner in our home. Oh, we really dressed it up nicely in the backyard with candlelight, music, dining under the stars. It was going to be great. Now, remember this was in my backyard and in order to situate my legs under the table, I had to wheel back and forth over wet grass. After getting in place and feeling all prim and proper, I looked down and I groaned. Big chunks of mud and grass were wedged between the tread in my tires. Even though it was a beautiful table setting with candles and linen, I felt so deflated. My tires were full of mud! And I couldn’t help but imagine what that would do to my new cream-colored carpet when later I would wheel back inside my house—it would be like you walking through someone’s muddy front yard and not wiping your feet before you cross the threshold and stepped onto their nice clean carpet. Never would you do such a thing, right? Well, I was kind of in the same predicament especially when, after dinner, it began to get cool outside and our group got up to head back into the house. There I sat at the sliding glass door feeling awful about the mud and grass on my tires.
But that’s when our two male guests suddenly disappeared and went inside. Moments later, they returned with a pail of hot water and scrub brushes from under my kitchen sink. Pouring it over my dirty tires, they began scrubbing with the brush and picking away mud with a knife. I felt so embarrassed that our very special out-of-town dinner guests were on their hands and knees, getting dirty and wet, but one of the fellows laughed and said, "Hey, Joni, what we're doing is very biblical. When Jesus told us to wash each other's feet, I'm sure he included your wheels, too!" Immediately I felt so much better. I thought of John chapter 13 where it says, “[Jesus] poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” And that is when I experienced an outpouring of God's humility and grace. Humility in seeing our honored visitors on their hands and knees getting all dirty, and grace in that these men were happy to jump in and follow the Savior's example from John 13.
So, that night I learned two things. Nothing works better than hot water for getting mud off dirty tires; plus, I learned that to wash my feet is to wash my wheels. Friend, there are people all around you in need of help, many of them in wheelchairs. When you see that need—perhaps someone who is homeless, a maybe foreign student who’s feeling lonely, or maybe woman in church going through an ugly divorce, or an out-of-work teen looking for an odd job—ask God to give you humility and grace to serve them and make a difference in their lives. And when you do, tell me about it on my radio page at joniandfriends.org, would you? And while you’re on our website, don’t forget to look at our Wheels for the World video I posted this week. Finally, friend, this week would you find a unique and unusual way to "wash the feet" of another—someone in special need? Because when you serve, you'll experience humility and grace sent straight from God.
© Joni and Friends
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P.O. Box 3333, Agoura Hills, CA 91376