Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Shauna: This is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada Sharing Hope. College days are upon us. Lean in now and listen to this great story from Joni about her college-aged friend Maggie.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Most students are already back at college. This past Sunday at church, we celebrated my pastor's daughter, who is heading off to Grand Canyon University. Maggie is all packed and ready to go. She has been through orientation and loves the campus, which is indeed beautiful. The church family marked this exciting milestone in her life with a yummy cake. While I was hanging out in the fellowship hall, Maggie's mother showed me the cutest photo of her daughter's graduation day from high school just a month or so ago. On top of her cap and gown, written right there on the lid of her graduation cap, Maggie had painted Proverbs 31:25. It was really cute with pink appliqué, and it said in bold, glittery letters, "The woman who fears the Lord is clothed with strength and dignity. She laughs without fear of the future."

There is a confident young woman about to be a university freshman. I am so glad that Maggie is already checking out the Christian clubs on campus, and she is pretty excited about the worship times every week at Chapel. I smiled when I read those words on the cap: "She laughs without fear of the future." But it made me think. If you are going to be able to laugh at the future—view the days to come as bright and hopeful—if you are going to be glad about the years ahead, you have to possess a healthy fear of the Lord. You have to believe that whatever may come, whatever happy times or hardships are in store, you are going to hold fast to a loving God who you are convinced is good, a God who does only good toward you.

Confidence like that does not allow for any bravado or sense of self-importance. A fear of the Lord always breeds humility. It is the humble person who can smile at the days to come. When I looked at that photo of Proverbs, I had to wonder: Do I smile at my future? What if my pain gets worse? Will I have a place to live when Ken Tada passes away? Who will take care of me? Such thoughts could nibble at the edges of my inner peace in Jesus. I need to believe, I have to believe, and I must believe that if my Savior Jesus would die for me, then he certainly is going to take care of me.

The kind of person who would die for you has already proven to you that he is going to bend over backwards to take great care of you. It just makes sense. I can smile about the days to come, and you can too. "Cast all your anxieties about the future on him because he cares for you," it says in 1 Peter chapter 5. When it comes to the future, your joy and confidence just has to be in Jesus—your Savior, your Lord, the one who has all the future days in his hands.

Without a hint of bravado or hubris, I join you in holding fast to Jesus Christ, while together we laugh with holy abandon at the future. There is no need to fear for our future days; they are all perfectly planned and held tightly in God's tender, loving hand.

Shauna: If you know a young person who is heading off to college, go to joniradio.org and share this program with them. Encourage their walk in Christ just as we encouraged Maggie as she heads off to Grand Canyon University. Remember the promise of Proverbs 31:25. It is yours. Be glad and be happy about your future. Jesus died for you, friend, and that means your future can only be bright.