What is Your Cause?
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and what’s the cause that you live for?
Well, if you’re like me, you’d probably say that you don’t live for a cause, you live for Jesus Christ, right? And you’d be right in saying that. As Christians, our lives are spent following Jesus, going where He tells us to go, and doing what He tells us to do. And often He will tell us, He will command us to take up a cause, a cause worth living for. God puts it this way in Psalm 82; it says, “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” Oh friend, now that’s a cause worth taking up. Defend the weak and the needy, right? Because, I tell you what, they really do need help – especially the needy who live in developing nations.
I remember when, last March during a disability training seminar in Nigeria, West Africa, a Christian lay worker — an African, who was taking the course told us, (now this is a direct quote) he said: “Now that we know what epilepsy is, we have to return to our villages to tell them that these people are not witches. We have to stop taking them outside the village and stoning them to death because we believed they were witches.” Yep, that’s happening; not only in Nigeria, but in many poor countries around the world. It is not uncommon for infants born with Down syndrome or a club foot to be abandoned on the banks of a river or left in a forest to return the spirit of the child to the animist gods in the jungle. And it’s not uncommon for women with disabilities — let’s say who have polio, or maybe they walk with a club foot — it is not uncommon for these women to be targets for rape because many men believe that they will be safe from contracting AIDS if they have sex with a disabled woman.
Oh my heavens, there is so much darkness in these countries; so much abuse; so much fear; so many heartbreaking tragedies, all because the father of lies thinks he’s got a tight grip on the disabled of the world. And this is why God commands us in Psalm 82 to defend the cause of the weak and needy, and deliver them from the hand of the wicked, especially the wicked. Friend, this is a cause worth taking up, and that’s why I encourage you – if you are studying physical therapy in college or occupational therapy, or if you are a nurse, or if you are considering missions – please consider serving the Lord Jesus in places where, well, where the world is bleeding out of control, where the darkness is at its most evil, where the kingdom is at its weakest.
And if you’re looking for a way to get your feet wet, then I’d encourage you to visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and take a look at our Cause4Life video. It’s brief, but oh, it explains so well the desperate needs among the weak and disabled, infants and the elderly in developing nations. This video also explains some of the Cause4Life internships that Joni and Friends has up and running this summer. Because we want you, especially if you are young, if you’re a college student, we want you to have a cause worth living for, worth working for and fighting for. And Psalm 82 is your guide. So please come and join me in our efforts to shine the light of Jesus into the darkest corners of the globe. Join me in planting the family banner of the King of Kings deep into soil that our enemy, the devil, thinks he owns. Join me in defending the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintaining the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescuing the weak and needy; and delivering them from the hand of the wicked. Join the battle at joniandfriends.org.
Previously aired on 5/30/11 as program #7586
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