Testimony (Joni Eareckson Tada)

and I know a lot of that applause it's also for my husband of 31 years Kenyatta yeah well while we're standing kid wait a second come over here we just want to introduce Johnny she'll be speaking and I pray this is the day that God is gonna speak to our hearts it's about believer not a relationship not pain it's about accepting the things that God gives to us and God knows exactly what we need so we grow amen let's pray for Johnny can father I thank you Laura for this couple and I thank you God for the work you've done in both of their lives 31 years and I pray God that today you would do a work in each of our lives my two were never too old to change and so god we lay our lives before you and we yield our lives and we reckon the old man dead and so we say yay God you work and you do your work in our hearts in Jesus name and everyone said amen you may be seated thank you Pastor Steve and I want you friends to know that Calvary Chapel South Bay and your pastor are often in my prayers often in fact I pray for your pastor every day he's on my paying power prayer list I deal with chronic pain and oh my goodness I want to pray for other people who deal with the same and I know that Steve many times has been a great encouragement to me he asked if I would come this morning and speak on how to overcome suffering and how to be an example of hope to serve God with all our heart well you know what you guys picked a great woman to talk on that paralyzed for over 45 years as a quadriplegic in this wheelchair dealing daily with chronic pain I battled stage 3 cancer just a couple of years ago I know something about affliction and the importance of serving when you are suffering and that's why I'm here this morning because I tell you when I broke my neck in that diving accident in July of 1967 I was overwhelmed I was absolutely dumbstruck what the prognosis that I was going to sit down for the rest of my life without use of my hands or my legs I was so depressed now I was a Christian at the time I would lie in bed at night though in that hospital I was in a 6 bed ward my bed was in the corner of the room I would lie awake fighting back the tears and trying to understand what in the world God was doing I was near near despair near near to throwing in the towel no I knew Scripture I knew James chapter one told me to welcome trials as friends I knew that I was to quote considerate all joy Romans chapter five told me to rejoice and suffering and again I say rejoice and Philippians chapter one said that it had been granted gifted to you to suffer on Christ's behalf and Romans 8:28 oh I knew that one it served me well when I was sweating out 25 laps on a hockey field in high school but now this was different this was paralysis total and permanent and it was too much because I just felt like gagging on those verses I had big questions and as I said I was near to throwing in the towel spiritually that night though something changed in that hospital room I was a I wasn't asleep at my roommates were asleep and I turned my head on the pillow and I saw in the doorway silhouetted against the light of the nurse's station I saw this dark figure I didn't know who it was and then to my surprise this figure this form got down on its hands and knees and began crawling into room my roommates were still asleep and at this point I'm near panic I'm thinking who is this well this person crawled over to my bed and sat on her haunches peered at me through the guardrail and immediately I recognized it it was it was my girlfriend Jackie from high school my friend with whom I shared milkshakes and hockey sticks and boyfriends and I said to Jackie I think catch you here they're gonna kick you out of here Shh she said and then she slowly stood up and took the guardrail with her hands and gently point clunk lowered it and then as high-school girls will often do at pajama sleepovers she snuggled into bed next to me put her head right on my pillow got up real close and in the dark she just turned her face toward mine and began to sing Man of Sorrows what a name for the son of God who came ruin sinners to reclaim and I don't know what happened that night but there was something that she did something in that song something changed which is odd because that night I did not get answers to those big questions it's just that suddenly the questions lost their sense of urgency and I think looking back I believe God's got his answers God's got his reasons and they are good and right and true but I will be the first to tell you that when your heart is being wrung out like a sponge sometimes the list of the 16 good biblical reasons as to why all this is happening to you it can sting sting like salt and an open wound true there comes a time when answers are not only important but answers from God's Word are absolutely necessary but initially you don't stop the bleeding with answers they don't always reach the problem where it hurts and that's an ax gut and in the heart they think our plea when we suffer can best be described by this imagine a little boy on a bicycle and he zooms down a kill on his bicycle turns the corner at the bottom and the kill his front tire hits gravel the bike skids out he falls to the ground crashes there his skin says knee it starts bleeding he sees his daddy come running up and he's holding his bloody knee crying daddy why now how cruel it would be if that daddy stood over his child folded his arms and said well child I am so glad you asked that question next time watch your speed as you go downhill watch the trajectory of your turn at the bottom of the kill be observant of gravel and those would have been great answers to his question why but that's not what that child wanted now that child wanted daddy just to pick him up press him against his breast and pat him on the back and say there there sweetheart daddy's here it's okay you can stop crying now I'm here I'm here everything's gonna be okay and when you're hurting don't you want don't you want that the part felt plea of most people who suffer who get the bad medical report who go through a divorce who deal with chronic pain the plea of most people who suffer is for assurance we just want fatherly assurance daddy assurance that there's an order to reality that far transcends our problems we want assurance that our world is not splitting apart at the seams and not spinning out of control with one assurance that our world is somehow orderly and stable that everything's gonna be okay we want God to be at the center of things what's more we want him to be warm and compassionately good we want him to be daddy and that's our cry and so God just like a good daddy just like a good father it's not quick to give us answers I think he knows initially if he did that it would be like pouring million gallon truths into our 1 ounce pea-brain I think he knows we couldn't take it all in and so God is not quick to give us answers when we heard but he is quick to give himself in Psalm 18 he gives himself as a mighty fortress to those who recognize their weakness and need and I say at 54 he becomes the husband to the widow in Psalm 10 he becomes the father to the orphaned and then Isaiah 62 he becomes the bridegroom to the single parent and in Exodus 15 he becomes the healer to the sick and in Isaiah 9 it becomes the wonderful counselor to those who are confused and depressed God can do no more than give himself and oh did he not give himself on the cross the Bible gives us answers and assurance from God but it is God's people like my friend Jackie who give that life-changing touch who translate the Word of God into heartfelt compassion that's what Jackie gave me that night she made Jesus real simply by drawing me near and pointing me to my Savior my deliverer my rescuer Jackie made for me the man of sorrows become the Lord of joy because God never intends that we should suffer alone no that's why he sent Jackie God designs when we heard that the body of Christ should provide comfort and assurance and support and empathy and understanding things that truly help you when you're hurting we know that from 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 where we're told that God comforts us and all of our troubles so we can comfort those in any trouble mind you Jackie knew nothing about quadriplegia but the Bible assured her that she could comfort me in any trouble you don't have to be disabled to empathize with other people who go through disabilities we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God the body of Christ is God's agent of mercy and compassion his people keep people like me who suffer his people keep us from becoming socially isolated they keep us connected to reality they come alongside and bear our burden they ascribe positive meaning to our pain I'll tell you what you can go through anything you can go through any kind of suffering if you know that Jesus Christ is with you in it and you know these with you in it when you can reach out with a trembling hand and find the hand of a Christian friend the body of Christ is God's balm and Gilead sometimes though when we want to help hurting people sometimes though we do so at arm's length distance don't we we minister at a safe distance like oh I don't know as though we were slots slapping blood on a counter and saying here here's life-giving truth welcome that trowel is friend praise the Lord anyway count it all joy rejoice and suffering here take this truth swallow it and just it believe it you'll feel better but the God of the Bible must never be separated from the God of the Bible's answers God asks you and me to hook our veins up to that person whose life is hemorrhaging human strength we are to be like God pouring out our heart into their lives as though giving a spiritual transfusion all warm all personal all life gift Christian Fellowship it's the powerful prescription to ease the pain of someone like me who hurts I'll never forget one of the first times that I was out of the hospital I was still struggling with my wheelchair in fact to be honest I still hated it and my friends from high school choir knew that I was still in depression so one Friday night they decided to come by my house at around 10:30 at night and asked my parents that they could take me out for a ride well my mom and dad knew I needed help so they gladly sent me off my way and my friends threw me into the front seat of their Camaro back then it didn't have shoulder harnesses or seatbelts an executive believed it and we zoomed downtown to inner city Baltimore where we visited the Pennsylvania railway station oh it's a beautiful railway station big marble columns high stone vaulted ceiling and my choir friends and I we wheeled in there and they wheeled me in there and oh my goodness our voices echoed off the beautiful ceiling there was nobody around at 11 o'clock at night just a couple of sailors and a janitor pushing a mop so we found a corner and we began singing in four-part harmony Man of Sorrows what a name for the Son of God who came and went at that point a real way official came up to us looked at his watch and said you you kids quit loitering get out of here you don't belong here and you lady in that wheelchair little girl you put that back where you found it I said but sir it's my wheelchair don't give me any lip Missy you put that wheelchair back where you found it get out of here I said no sir honestly it's my wheelchair it's it's mine well he was embarrassed and flustered he told us to be on our way which we were we laughed all the way home and when my friends pushed me to the door one of them turned to me and said Johnny I want you to know that was the first time I've ever heard you call it my wheelchair I just want you to know that really spoke to me it was pretty powerful thanks for your example and right there is the flipside of overcoming suffering yes the body of Christ needs to serve those who heard but those who hurt must also serve the body scripture demands it and God insists on this because he knows it is the best cure for whatever ails you second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 5 says that if we are distressed it is for your comfort for your salvation that's what I love about what I do at Johnny and Friends I mean every morning when I go to work up in Agoura at our Johnny and Friends international disability Center I cannot wait to squeeze every ounce of ministry opportunity out of this paralyzed body that I possibly can because I know there are people out there in the world who suffer far more than I ever will yes I'm tired yes I heard yes I often feel like throwing in the top towel but if I'm distressed I know it's for the comfort and salvation of others for instance when I reel into my office one of the first things I often see is a photograph that I've hung on my wall I brought it today so you can see it it's a picture that we took of a man in Africa who fell out of his tree he broke his back and he laid there by the side of the road paralyzed from the waist down no hospital came to help him no clinic no emergency medical team no ambulance he waited there until his family found him and dragged him home and here he sits in his humble little house with half a roof and only three walls I look at that man every morning and I say to myself Johnny you ain't got nothing to complain about you better not complain in fact when I see that photograph I often think of what I'm told in Jude chapter 14 let me read the sixteenth verse to you where it says see the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him these men are what are they mass murderers drug pushers pedophiles no it says these men are grumblers and complainers Oh may I never complain our attitude when we suffer should be that of Philippians chapter 2 verse 13 which says it best short and sweet do everything without complaining now I know what you might be thinking you're probably thinking Johnny you don't know what I'm going through I don't have the time I don't have the energy I don't have a strength to think of other people my problems are too consuming I can't serve others well if that's what you're thinking I would answer you with first Peter chapter 2 verse 21 which says quote to this you were called because Christ suffered for you leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps and what was Christ's example when he was suffering oh my goodness even when he was hanging on the cross at Calvary hanging there like meat on a hook even while he was on his so-called deathbed he's thinking of others he's ministering to his mother he's serving John the John has his best his disciple he's reaching out and saving the thief on the cross next to him all the while was showing an example to his disciples who looked on even from his cross Jesus was serving and are we above our master no we are called to do the same we are called to follow in his steps when we are hurting when we're in trouble when our pain and problems are piling on so high think of someone else you can help because like that man and that photograph there are always people who are suffering far more than you ever will and God could empower you to reach out to them so where in the world are those who suffer find the strength to serve others like that to not complain to follow Christ's example to be like Jesus well let me share with you a secret a personal secret please do not be thinking that I'm a strong person and I hope that you do not think that you are a strong person no the secret is be quick to admit that you don't have the power there is nothing no resource in you that can naturally enable you to follow Christ's example in other words cast yourself wholly and utterly at the foot of the cross lean on Jesus I know that I do this every morning when I wake up please don't be thinking on the veteran at this quadriplegia even after 46 years I'm no professional I haven't got it all figured out you want to know how I wake up in the morning 95% of the time let me let me tell you how it looks my husband is usually off running errands and I'm in bed and I can hear my girlfriend in the in the kitchen and I know she's running water for coffee and I know she's going to come into my bedroom in a few minutes with a cup of hot coffee and she's going to give me that beautiful smile of hers and she's going to give me a bed bath put my arms and legs - their range of motion exercise routine she's going to get me dressed put on my corset sling me in the wheelchair push me to the bathroom brush my teeth brush my hair blow my nose and all the while I my head stolen the pillow my eyes are still closed and I'm thinking oh god I have no strength for this I am so tired oh I'm looking out on the day's appointments and I already feel overwhelmed how am I gonna do it I have no strength anybody feel like wake in the morning you know battles are won or lost and there's a few seconds before you open your eyes in the morning right well while my eyes are still closed this is honestly what I think god I have no strength for this day no ability no resources but you do you have strength I can't do quadriplegia today I cannot but I can do all things through you as you strengthen me I have no resources but you do I have no ability but you do I have no smile for this woman who's gonna come in here in a moment and greet me but you do Oh Lord Jesus please let me borrow your smile and you know what he does by 7:30 5:00 in the morning before the day is even started I have got joy hard fought for and hard won sent straight from heaven and maybe maybe the really handicapped people are the ones who when they wake up in the morning they throw back the covers they jump out of bed they take a quick shower they scarf down breakfast perhaps give God a speedy tip of the head of a quiet time and then they zoom out the front door on automatic cruise control if you're a Christian and you live life that way did you know that God is against you James chapter 4 verse 6 says God opposes the proud he resists the proud he is against the proud he never the proud are don't you they are people who think to themselves you know I got saved many years ago I've been going to Bible study in church and I pretty got this Christian I got this Christian thing figured out so Jesus I'm gonna get on with my day and I promise not to do anything to stain your reputation or smear your good name I'm gonna keep my nose clean but like I pretty much got the lay of the land I got this thing figured out so you know I probably just take it from here and check in with you every once in a while God resists people like that Christian's like that but he gives grace grace to the humble and who are the humble simply people like you and me who understand who recognized our daily desperation for Jesus we cannot do it without Jesus he is everything it's all about Jesus leaning on Jesus I remember when I was in Africa and we were delivering wheelchairs a disabled man dragged himself into our wheelchair distribution center and we said when he saw me he leaned back on his haunches spread his arms wide and said Oh Johnny welcome to our country where God is so much bigger and he's bigger because we need him more God always seems bigger to those who need him most how much do you need him and how big is your God because soon and very soon oh my goodness God is gonna come and close the curtain on suffering and sin and Satan Isaiah chapter 35 says that we will enter Zion with singing everlasting joy will crown our heads gladness will overtake us and sorrow and sign will flee away oh my goodness the eyes the blind shall be open the ears of the Deaf unstopped the tongues of those who can't speak will shop for joy and laying people like me are going to leap like deer hallelujah I can't wait soon there'll be a lifting of the curtain on our fog sensor soon I'll be a lifting of the curtain our five senses and we shall see the whole universe in plain sight we shall understand in an instant God's plan for the ages and at first we may feel shocked by the utter newness of feeling glorified but in the next instant we will feel completely at home in heaven as though it were always this way and the suffering of earth will be nothing more than a faded half forgotten dream just two minutes in heaven will compensate for all the tears and suffering you have endure on earth just two minutes our light and momentary afflictions aren't even worth comparing with the glory that lays ahead I told the girls last night so be like Rumpelstiltskin remember him remember that fairytale when you were a kid that Rumpelstiltskin guy he was a little elf who sat of a spinning wheel and on one side was a pile of straw and he would spin it into a pile of gold on this side well friends you can be Rumpelstiltskin don't waste your sufferings they are the straw out of which God can give you grace to weave gold gold that will enlarge your eternal estate and increase your eternal capacity for joy and worship and service gold that you can one day cast at the feet of Jesus don't be least in the kingdom of heaven yes there will be people who will be quote least in the kingdom of heaven Jesus says so don't be least and you can start by not wasting your sufferings wake up tomorrow morning needing Jesus desperately and learn not to complain Body of Christ learned to reach out to those who suffer and you who suffer learn to serve others like my friend Jackie when you do that you will be declaring to a skeptical and a cynical world that the man of sorrows can be your Lord of joy and you know what you don't have to break your neck to believe it god bless you and thanks for listening Oh amen let's pray father we thank you for God your spirit upon our lives today and Lord we come at this moment and we just realized there are some in this room myself that have been through so much sometimes we lose heart and just want to quit and father our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed maybe there are some today that would say pastor Steve I need to be touched or maybe you have never come to Christ and this is the day that you want to make sure your life is together you've been looking searching hoping to find something and you've come today and your heart is tender before God and God is speaking to you and you're going to have to take that step of faith and so as I pray if you would like me to pray for you then simply raise your hand that I might pray for you right now that you would come to know Christ or rededicate your life raise them high so I can see you god bless you and God bless you God bless you God bless you God bless you and god bless you don't hesitate god bless you in the very back god bless you god bless you right there I see it god bless you sir god bless you in the very back of the t-shirt don't hesitate this is not between you and your wife or you and hanging out with the kids or anybody else god bless you this is between you and God and him touching you and ministering to your heart and what he did for Johnny he can do for you but even more powerful right now you just have to say God I need you to touch me anybody else before we pray god bless you god bless you sir god bless you ma'am god bless you right here in the fourth row while your heads are bowed and your eyes are closed just repeat after me dear Jesus come into my heart I believe you died for my sins write my name on the book of life father fill me with your Holy Spirit I surrender all things in my life to you now fill me and use me for your kingdom I only ask today that God that you would touch my life take away the fear and God give me peace let me know that you are in my heart and if I was to die today I'd be with you in Jesus name and everyone said amen well god bless you what a blessing amen

Channel: Calvary Chapel South Bay

Views: 13,840

Rating: 4.9749999 out of 5

Keywords: ccsb, ccsouthbay, Calvary, Chapel, South, Bay, Steve Mays, South Bay, Jesus, Christ, Lord, God, Joni Eareckson Tada (Author), Joni Eareckson Tada, perseverance, overcoming, suffering, encouragement

Id: wsoB5xxQNJ4

Length: 31min 50sec (1910 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 24 2013