Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Joni Eareckson Tada: This is Joni on Joni and Friends: Sharing Hope. And here's Joni with the hymn she often sings on the 101 Freeway on her way to work. Here are Joni and Friends.

Joni Eareckson Tada: On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross. The emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown.

Joni Eareckson Tada: You know, it's easy to sing that going down the 101 Freeway, the Joni and Friends every morning when things are going smoothly, when it's easy to look on the bright side of life, just like birds that sing in the morning when dawn breaks.

But when sun sets and darkness falls, you hardly ever hear the singing of birds, do you? And what is true for birds is often true for us. When things look dark, most of us find it hard to sing.

But thankfully, those are the times when God does something supernatural. He gives the song, and he gives it in the night. Just when you find you cannot sing, God gives the music. It even says so in the book of Job, chapter 35, verse 10. God is the one who gives songs in the night when life is hard and when your spirit is heavy.

The other night when I could not sleep, God brought this beautiful old hymn, the one I just sang about the old rugged cross. He brought it to mind. It's so comforting. You might think it's old-fashioned, but, you know, think about the words. And I whispered them in my heart, and oh what a comfort, what a consolation. It's what happens when God gives songs in the night.

Listen to what Charles Spurgeon once wrote. He said, “Any man can sing in the day when the cup is full. Man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest. The difficulty is for music to swell forth when no wind is stirring. It's easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight. But he is skillful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by. One who sings from the heart.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Lay me upon the bed of languishing, the bed of affliction, and how shall I then chant God's high praises unless he himself give me the song? No, it is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse, unless a coal from God's altar shall touch his lips. Then, since our maker gives songs in the night, let us wait upon him for the music.”

Oh friend, maybe I'm describing you today. Maybe Spurgeon's describing you. Your heart is burdened for any number of reasons and you find there's just no music in your life. Well, God's the one who's got a song just for you. So wait upon him for the music. Could be a favorite old hymn like this one, the one I just sang. Or it could be a familiar praise song that you know by heart, sing it every Sunday morning. Because you know what? Life is hard, and we all need God's music.