Singing Through Suffering
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a fitting song for this first day of spring!
For the beauty of the earth,
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Christ, our Lord, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.
You know, it is the first day of spring, and as I wheeled out my front door this morning, and saw the first hints of flowers, I could not help but sing this beautiful old hymn; humming it all the way to work. “For the Beauty of the Earth.” And no matter what the season – spring, summer, fall, winter – you are gonna find me humming and singing when I come out my front door. And James 5:13 tells why. It says, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. [But] are any of you happy? You should sing praises.” Now, friend, it is no accident that the words “suffering” and “singing” appear in that same verse! Yeah, we should pray our way through hardships. But we should also sing – because singing is the hallmark of a happy Christian who has learned to pray his way through suffering.
Now, I have been singing my way through hardships for years, but late last year, I got the shock of my life when while performing with Keith and Kristyn Getty at the Kennedy Center – yikes! Right after intermission, up there on the stage, Vice President Mike Pence walked on and presented me with the “Sing! Lifetime Achievement Award.” Like, what?! I mean, I was speechless. The vice president shared that it was the first time the award had been presented, and it celebrates people who have significantly influenced the world through worship in song. But I’m sitting there, while the vice president is saying all these things, and I’m thinking, what am I doing here? I mean, here I am in Washington DC, just a short distance from the Chesapeake Bay where I broke my neck. All I can think of in that moment was 2 Samuel 7:18, “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, that you have brought me this far?”
Look, you just heard a moment ago – I’m no trained vocalist; I’m no Kari Jobe, no Amy Grant. So, later on backstage, when I asked Keith and Kristyn “Why me?” they said they talked to church leaders, Bible teachers, worship leaders from more than 100 countries, and all of them said that they’d been encouraged by the way I keep singing my way through suffering. I was so blown away, so humbled! And right there I could not help but burst into song, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!”
Well, hey, if you want to learn more about the Sing! Award that I received, visit Joni radio.org. And it bears repeating, for you, today: James chapter 5 says, “Are you suffering hardship? Then pray. Are you happy? Sing praises to God.” Yes, we should pray our way through hardships. But we should also learn to sing – because, as I shared earlier, singing is the hallmark of a happy Christian who has learned to pray his way through suffering. It shows contentment; it shows submission to the will of God. So, let that be your hallmark today as you face your own hardships. Look, it is the first day of spring. There are lots of reasons to be singing. And you may not win an award for it in the here and now. But, I tell you what – if you keep singing your way through hardship, you are gonna get the lifetime achievement award when you get to heaven! Jesus Himself will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful in singing your way through suffering. Now, sing with the angelic choirs for all of eternity.” Sound pretty good? I join you today in singing my way through suffering, on this first day of spring.
© Joni and Friends
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God’s Hand in Our Hardship
Find honest, biblical answers to tough questions about God’s sovereignty. Look at how a gracious and loving God can allow you to suffer, why “good” people have to suffer and how good can come from it.
