Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Shauna: I'm Shauna with Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Thank you for joining us. Now Joni, I know lately you've been looking closely at the life of the apostle Paul, and I'm wondering, have you noticed anything new?

Joni Eareckson Tada: Well, I have, Shauna, and thanks for asking. I've mostly been in Paul's letter to the Philippians, and I have seen how throughout the entire book, Paul expresses so much joy. I know his joy can't possibly be rooted in his circumstances. He's confined to prison. He's chained to a Roman guard. But it is so clear that Paul's got deep down joy because what looks like a big setback to most, being in prison, Paul knows is actually God's means of spreading the name of Christ.

Every single Roman soldier who got chained to Paul got an earful of the gospel. Then, when that soldier completed his duty, he transfers the keys to another soldier. No wonder Paul can say in the first chapter to the Philippians, "Friends, I want you to know that what has happened to me has turned out to be for the advancement of the gospel." I can picture Paul smiling when he writes that.

Years ago, when I started sharing my testimony before people in small groups, Sunday schools, and events like the Christian Women's Clubs, I came across these same words of Paul in my old high school Bible. It was a J.B. Phillips paraphrase of the New Testament. This is the way it read. Paul says, "I want you to know, my brothers, that what has happened to me has in effect turned out to the advantage of the gospel."

First of all, my imprisonment means a personal witness for Christ before the palace guards, not to mention others who come and go. Then it means that most of our brothers are able to take fresh heart in the Lord from the very fact that I am a prisoner for Christ's sake. These brothers have shown far more courage now in boldly proclaiming the word of God. When I read that, it hit me. I looked down at my wheelchair, and I could see that my own bolts and bars, my own portable prison as it were, my confinement, my wheelchair, was a marvelous way for me to give the gospel.

Why else would Sunday schools or women's groups ask me to share my testimony, except that my wheelchair opened the door? People wanted to hear what I had to say. My imprisonment, my paralysis, meant that I now had a personal witness for Christ in front of many more people than if I were not paralyzed. Plus, I saw that when I shared my testimony, people seemed to take fresh heart in the Lord from the very fact that I was a prisoner, so to speak.

I had the joy of the Lord, much like Paul. When I shared my story, others were free to show far more courage in their own sufferings. I recall one woman coming up to me after I spoke, and she said, "Joni, if you can trust God in that wheelchair, then I realize I can trust God with my issues." The whole thing utterly astounded me, and boy, did that give me joy. Such joy to know that the wheelchair was all in God's plan to advance the gospel.

Shauna: Don't we love that gospel? When you read Philippians, it's clear that Paul's joy is based in Christ himself. Jesus is Paul's treasure. It's a joy that cannot be shaken by suffering because it's anchored in God's eternal purposes. I trust this encourages you who are listening, no matter how confined you feel by your circumstances. Thanks for joining us here at joniradio.org.