He Speaks Through You

Welcome to Joni and Friends radio and a big anniversary!

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada, and – oh, my goodness – today exactly, back in 1982, that’s when I parked my wheelchair in front of this microphone to open my heart to you. And I cannot believe it; I’m still shaking my head and wondering, “How did I get here? How did this happen?” Well, we know the answer to that question. But decades ago, you couldn’t have convinced me. Never did I believe I’d have enough things to share – you know, I mean, meaningful things, encouraging things, deep things from God’s Word. But what can I say; my hardships have brought me so much hope in Christ, and I just got to pass it on. I got to share what I’m learning with others. 

Way back in the early 80s, I remember my friends at Ambassador – they were the ones who, way back then, convinced me that I had a message to give – and I recall saying to them, “Look, guys, I’m not a theologian; I’m not a graduate from seminary; I just got this wheelchair and the Word of God; that’s it.” But my friends at Ambassador patiently showed me Matthew 10:20; get this: “It won’t be you doing the talking…it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Hey, and I know you’ve experienced that yourself; times when you saw God work powerfully through your pain and disappointment. You saw his grace at work in your life, and then you applied some passage from God’s Word, obeyed God’s promise and it changed you, right? And so, you just had to tell your friends. I mean, you wrote it down in your journal. You couldn’t keep it to yourself. You just had to strengthen others with the same strength with which God had blessed you. And you know, I think that’s what’s been happening ever since 1982. 

It hasn’t been me doing the talking here on the radio. It’s been the Spirit of our Father in heaven. And I’m just so grateful that I’ve had these many years to pass on the blessings – meaningful blessings from Scripture and from my experience through suffering so that you, too, can be strengthened with the same grace God has blessed me with. Proverbs 18 says that life is in the power of the tongue, and it has always been my prayer that as I wrap my experiences around the Word of God, it might breathe power, life into your disappointment, hope into your hardship, joy into your pain. My personal mission statement – and I wrote it down years ago – the mission statement for my life is that – here it is – I want to be God’s best audio-visual aid of how his power and life shows up best in my weakness. And that’s been the theme of this radio program for decades. I love, I mean I delight in sharing hope through every hardship. 

And so please, let me encourage you to share God’s hope through your hardships, because Matthew 10:20 was written for you, as well: “For it won’t be you doing the talking…it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” So, friend, if the Lord has poured out his grace on you through some deep disappointment or illness, if you’ve tasted victory in his name, don’t you dare keep it to yourself. You be bold because it will not be you doing the talking to your friends. The Spirit of your Father will speak his encouragement through you. It’s a great way for you to join me today in celebrating this special anniversary here at the ministry. Talk up the goodness of God through your suffering, and then tell us about it at joniradio.org. Because together with you, we love sharing the hope of Jesus through every hardship. And thank you for making this special anniversary such a joy as you tune in each day to Joni and Friends. 

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