Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Shauna: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Here's our dear friend Joni with a powerful lesson from Ephesians.

Joni Eareckson Tada: When I go to see my pain management specialist, Ken always takes me. Dr. Cabaret is a wonderful Christian brother, and so he and my husband have become friends. Recently, when I went in to see Dr. Cabaret for a checkup, when I was finished, Ken asked the doctor if he'd take a look at his shoulder. My husband's been struggling lately with shoulder pain.

Dr. Cabaret quietly examined my husband's shoulder, pressing it and putting it through its range of motion. While he was doing this, he explained to us how the shoulder is a complex ball and socket joint. In fact, its unique construction makes it the most movable joint in the human body. He told us it consists of three bones: the bone in your upper arm, your scapula, and your collarbone.

It's the way these three bones come together through a web of intricate muscles and tendons. He said, "It's nothing short of miraculous." And that's when Dr. Cabaret added, "All glory to God." It is fun to hear a doctor say that because only God could design such a complex joint that enables such a wide range of motion. "The shoulder joint alone," Dr. Cabaret said, "proves there must be a God."

In that moment, my heart filled with such joy, and I said out loud, "Praise the Lord! God is such a genius creator." All the way home from that office, I was filled with wonder, whispering and ascribing God all the glory I could simply for the complex anatomy of a single joint in the human body.

I think you understand. It's those moments when you learn something amazing, or you hear something amazing like a symphony, or you see tiny designs in a lacy little flower, or someone explains how the shoulder is put together and your heart just fills with praise to God. To be honest, it's something we can and should do every day.

First Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." We can even do a doctor's visit all to the glory of God. When we ascribe God glory, we are not making Him shine brighter or adding something that He lacks. To glorify God is to delight in Him, be happy in Him, and reflect on what is already true about Him.

For instance, that little lesson Dr. Cabaret gave us about the shoulder. Most of us might not be inclined to first consider that God designed those bones and muscles, but we can pray that God will open the eyes of our heart so that we can start seeing Him in all of life. Oh, the joy of seeing God everywhere! That is when you will find Jesus in the most mundane of things, even eating and drinking.

Colossians 3:17 is a great summary here: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." So, Shauna, let's sing that song. You know the one?

Shauna: Let's do it!

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see You.

When we see the hand of the Lord Jesus in the sight of a flower-filled meadow or an intricate joint in the human body, we can echo Psalm 86:12: "I give thanks to You, O Lord, with my whole heart. I will glorify Your name forever." Thanks so much, Joni, for reminding us of the joy in ascribing God glory for who He is and for what He's done.