Bent To Be A Blessing
I’ve got quite the story about my bent, twisted and very mangled spoon.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and as a quadriplegic, the things I can do for myself are limited. I can’t dress or bathe myself; put on my make-up, you know, all the rest; but I can feed myself. And I do it with a bent, twisted, quite mangled spoon! Let me tell you why. My husband takes my bent spoon – it has been hammered into an odd angle – and then he inserts it into my arm splint. With that done, with my muscle functioning ability, I’m able to lift food to my mouth with little strength. And it’s a good thing, because I do not have hardly any strength in my arm. Now, at first more applesauce landed on my lap than I would like, but my bent spoon gets the job done. When others look at it – this misshapen spoon – it looks like damaged goods. Especially to waitresses who thoughtlessly sweep it off the table. They’ll pick it up, turn it this way and that and say: “Aww, man, where’d this thing come from? Must have gotten smashed in the dishwasher.” But then I say, “No, no, no, wait; it’s okay, it’s mine.” They have no idea how much I need that ugly spoon with all its brokenness. It’s been nearly bent beyond semblance of a spoon, but to me, it helps me function; it helps me be whole and complete.
Now this is going to sound funny, but whenever I come across those words in 2 Timothy chapter 2 where it says that “the Master of the house” chooses certain vessels for His purposes – well, that verse always reminds me of my bent spoon. It’s like, okay, picture this – I am the mangled spoon. And in the world’s eyes, my suffering has made me appear like damaged goods. But through pain and suffering, God has bent my stubborn will and made me fit to be “[His] vessel for honorable use, set apart as…useful to the Master of the house, ready for every good work,” just like it says in 2 Timothy. I mean, truly, there I am, a spoon in the kitchen drawer, breathless with excitement whenever the Master of the household opens it to choose a utensil. And all the other spoons look so nice and neat and normal and straight and typical; you know, the kinds of spoons you’d expect to use. But the bent spoon says to the Master of the household, “Choose me; oh please, choose me!” And the Master does. All because – now get this – He’s got a special purpose for a broken vessel.
Nothing is more satisfying than knowing that God has hand-picked you for a special work such as, well, being His chosen means of grace in another’s life – especially when your suffering can help that person who’s sick with grief or pain. To be an agent of His comfort? To share your brokenness with someone else who’s been broken? To be God’s emissary for words of encouragement? What a noble, what a good work! You know, it’s what a cancer survivor once did for me years ago when she gave me John Piper’s little book “Don’t Waste Your Cancer.” She was the bent spoon, able to pass on blessings of brokenness to me in my cancer battle. She was broken too from cancer. She was bent, broken to pour out a blessing on me.
This little booklet was such a blessing to me in some pretty dark days during my cancer battle. And it’s why I would really like you to have a copy of this little book all leading up to National Cancer Survivor’s Day this Sunday. You can get your free copy of “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” right now at joniradio.org. Let God hand-pick you to shepherd some wounded soul into help and hope. Because if you have been bent and broken, God has shaped you to encourage others in their brokenness. So, why don’t you pass on the encouragement today with your free gift; it’s all waiting for you at joniradio.org. Thanks for listening today on Joni and Friends.
© Joni and Friends
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Don’t Waste Your Cancer
Don’t Waste Your CancerHow are we as Christians called to respond when cancer invades our lives, whether our own bodies or those of our friends and family? On the eve of his own cancer surgery, John Piper writes with compassion and strength about cancer as an opportunity to glorify God and make much of Jesus. “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” is a hope-giving resource for anyone touched by cancer or other life-threatening illnesses.
