Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Shauna: I'm Shauna with Joni Eareckson Tada Sharing Hope. Thanks for listening today.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Long ago, when I broke my neck in a diving accident, I was in the hospital for a long time. And that's where I learned to paint, holding brushes between my teeth. When I was discharged, I purchased an art easel to use at home. But when I wheeled up to it, the canvas was so close to my face, within inches, that my eyes got crossed. Once I tried to do a pencil sketch using my computer glasses, and after 10 minutes my eyes were so tired and even the sketch looked blurry.

I realized I needed heavy-duty eyeglasses, and so I purchased lenses that were super thick and the glass frames are so heavy they crunch my nose. But it sure helped me to see things as they should be seen. And that is a good definition of vision. Vision is the ability to see things as they should be seen, to see everything clearly, perhaps more clearly than others might.

And Christians need to see the world through God's eyeglasses. That's his word. We need to see things as he wants them to be, a world fully reconciled to himself through Jesus Christ. And we Christians must see the world that way because Proverbs 29 says, "Without a vision, the people perish." Ephesians chapter 1 talks about the same thing. The Apostle Paul writes, "I pray also that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened," like putting on industrial-strength glasses, "in order that you may know the hope to which God has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe."

Friend, when you pray for God to open the eyes of your heart, you begin to see life as he does. You will gain God's vision for yourself and for the world around you. No more hazy notions about life from a human perspective. A close look at God's word is going to sharpen your focus and you'll be able to see the picture that he wants to paint not only in your life but among the people around you.

We are asking God to do this every time we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." It's like saying, "Oh God, may your glorious kingdom come and become visible in the lives of my family and friends, and please use me to help make it happen." So let's look once more at Ephesians chapter 1. Ask God to enlighten the eyes of your heart so you can know how he's already blessed you with hope and riches and his amazing power.

Friend, that verse is like putting on those glasses with very thick lenses. You've got the hope of heaven. Get into focus because you've got the abundance of riches in Christ. Put on your glasses because you've got the power to rise above your fears and change the world around you through your thoughtful words and deeds of kindness. You've got the riches of his favor when you live this way.

And when you gain a vision for changing the world around you, God's going to change you. His kingdom will come and his will will be done in your life and in the lives of your family and friends. You know, God opened the eyes of my heart years ago and I began to see the world of disability as he saw it. I became focused in sharing God's hope, his riches, and his amazing power with people who have disabilities all across the globe.

And my team at Joni and Friends and I have the honor of bringing Christ's kingdom to this broken world and the people in it who feel crushed by their weakness. So today, friend, ask God to get your life in focus and to give you his vision for your world. And then watch him change it for his glory. Amen.