Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Joni Eareckson Tada: This is Joni Eareckson Tada sharing hope. What I've learned is that Joni can really handle her wheelchair. With God's grace, that is. Grace makes it possible to even smile in my wheelchair, and I can even handle chronic pain through His grace.

But when it comes to loneliness, that's a deep kind of suffering that requires an even deeper measure of grace. Loneliness is emotional despair tucked way down deep in the soul, the heart, and in the gut. It is so different than being in a wheelchair or even handling pain.

People who are profoundly lonely often feel that their lives are meaningless, that they could jump off a bridge and no one would ever even notice their absence. Loneliness can even make us feel as though we are suffering for nothing, and that is the worst feeling of all.

If ever there were a person whose suffering seemed to be for nothing, a person who was physically isolated, it was my friend Denise. Back in the rehab institute I lived in for almost a year, Denise was my Christian roommate. A strange neuromuscular disease had left her blind and completely paralyzed.

Lying motionless in her hospital bed all day, this young woman was extremely isolated. She had little connection with other people except for an occasional nurse or infrequent visits from her mother, who had to take the cross-town bus to see her. But was Denise lonely? Oddly, she would have said no.

Denise never complained. She always had a warm greeting for me and the rest of her roommates. She was always interested in how we did at physical therapy. Despite her blindness and paralysis, despite living day in and day out in bed, she really knew she wasn't alone.

Denise realized that others were observing. Others were benefiting from her life of faith lived out in her narrow hospital bed. She took great comfort in knowing that her response to suffering was on display for God and the whole spiritual world. Millions of angels and demons were observing and learning from her perseverance and endurance.

Denise was instructing the whole world of unseen beings because the Bible makes it clear that the spiritual world is intensely interested in the thoughts and affections of every human being. Angels actually rejoice when we trust and obey God. Read Luke chapter 15, verse 10 as an example.

Ephesians chapter 3, verse 10 proves that the spiritual world has its eyes upon us because it says, "God's intent is that now, through Christians, His manifold wisdom should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." Right there you have it.

Denise's life, your life, is like a chalkboard on which God teaches lessons about Himself to instruct and show angels and demons. Denise was not alone in that bed, and neither are you in your life. Maybe some people around you don't care about your life, but a great many someones are watching you with fascination.

They want to see if God's sustaining grace really is sustaining your life. They want to see if God's working in your life. They are curious as to how you will respond to trials and whether or not God will support you. Friend, your life is on display for millions of unseen beings. Little wonder God wants us to trust and obey Him when, and especially when, you are alone, when no one seems to be watching.

Guest (Male): This story from Joni inspires me greatly. I'm so glad I can go back and listen to it again at joniradio.org, and you can too. Go to joniradio.org for this program and so much more. And remember, if you're feeling lonely today, the heavenly realms are watching, listening, and learning about God from you.