The Woman with the Mona Lisa Smile
Welcome to Joni and Friends where:
We’ve a story to tell to the nations
That will turn their hearts to the right.
A story of truth and mercy.
It’s a story of peace and light. A story of peace and light.
For the darkness shall turn to the dawning, And the dawning to noonday bright.
And Christ’s great kingdom shall come to earth,
The kingdom of love and light.
You know, I love that song and when I arrive at the headquarters of Joni and Friends in the morning, as you know, I love to wheel up the ramp and I love to sing this song. Like today—I was thinking of our ‘Wheels for the World’ team who are just arriving in India right now, loaded down with wheelchairs and Bibles, and I’m thinking of all the many people with disabilities who will hear about Jesus! ‘Cause we got a story to tell to the nations! And I love singing about it. Every morning when I come through the doors of Joni and Friends, I do. Because the place where I work inspires me, not to mention how the Bible inspires us all, to “Exalt the Lord [where?] Among the nations” and “proclaim His glory and greatness among the peoples of the earth.” And ‘Wheels for the World’ is doing that right now in India of proclaiming God’s glory and greatness.
I’m inspired by my co-workers who make ‘Wheels for the World’ happen; and yes, I’m even inspired by the big photographs we have on the walls here at the International Disability Center. In fact, right before I wheel up the ramp on the way to my office on the second floor, I always pass by this one huge photograph that shows one of our Wheels for the World outreaches in Africa. In this photo there is an elderly woman sitting in one of our wheelchairs she is looking up into the face of a young African man with his Bible; he has a gospel bracelet in his hand and is obviously showing her what the various beads on the bracelet mean: black for our sin, red for the blood of Jesus, white for forgiveness and so on. The old African woman seems to understand what this young man is saying, but there is a third person in the photograph. It’s the old woman’s daughter, and she’s standing there, dressed in her tribal garb with her hand on her hip and she is looking directly into the camera, (or I should say as I pass by this big photograph) she is looking directly at me—right through me, and oh the look on her face.
Her expression is like the Mona Lisa’s; it’s mysterious, it’s a little inscrutable. And to me she seems to be asking, “And Joni, when is the last time you gave the Gospel to someone like my mother?” Oh my goodness, her look and those words inspire me to move into the day and do the work of the Kingdom. After all, we got a story to tell to the nations, and not just the nations, but in our backyards. There is somebody God wants me to talk to today and there’s someone God wants you to talk to today, someone who needs to know that Jesus cares. And you and I don’t have to go to Africa, but I will ask you (like that woman looking directly at you) from that photograph: “When was the last time you talked to someone about Christ?”
Hey, you have to come and visit me on my radio page today at joniradio.org ‘cause I want you to take a look at this extraordinary photograph and then you can write and tell me what you think that African woman might be saying to you! But I venture you will think she is saying: “When is the last time you talked to someone about Jesus Christ?” Make it happen today!
Song: “We’ve a Story to Tell the Nations” by H. Ernest Nichol (Public Domain).
© Joni and Friends
