A Brand New Decade

“If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.”

Isaiah 50:10

Here we are in the year 2020, not just a new year – a brand new decade! It all feels so fresh and full of hope… but that’s not the case for everyone. Several of my friends with disabilities are looking at 2020 as a continuation of the same jaw-splitting suffering they’ve endured in the past. They are wondering if it might even get worse in this new year! For these friends, and others with tough medical conditions, hope is hard to come by as this new decade dawns.

“You have to fight hard to stay hopeful.”

I can look back on my own life when I was in the hospital and say the same. And years ago when chronic pain became the terrifying ‘Tyrannosaurus rex’ in my life, sinking its sharp jaws into my back and hip, well… I learned that you have to fight hard to stay hopeful; you have to fight to stay satisfied in God. It’s a fight to say ‘no’ to worry and complaining, and ‘yes’ to God and his hope-filled promises. Yes, it’s a fight. But it’s a good fight.

And so, as I face this new decade, I’m thinking of the many people with disabilities people we serve at Joni and Friends. I’m thinking of little boys with polio who must drag their legs through the mud – they are bullied, teased, and left out of village soccer games. I’m thinking of little girls with disabilities locked in back bedrooms or abandoned in alleys. I’m remembering parents worn down to bone-thin exhaustion because the caregiving routines never stops. And I’m thinking of people who lie bedridden in fetal positions because their pain is so severe and relentless.

“Yes, when afflictions are great, it can feel as though there is no hope. But feelings don’t have the final word.”

Joni

The Bible has the last and best word! There is hope, and that fresh breath of hope is the Breath of Life himself, Jesus Christ. He is the conquering hero who enables us to overcome! Those suffering children and parents I just described?

Isaiah 50:10 gives them hope, for, “If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God.” When hurting people rely on the God of hope, he infuses a fresh breath of courage that helps you overcome any disability.

And so, as we start 2020, I am heaven-bent on making sure we at Joni and Friends make the most of every opportunity to share this Gospel of hope (it grieves me to think that peoples’ suffering will only be worse in an eternity without Jesus Christ)! And so, when at midnight I’m awake because of my own pain, I turn those dark hours into fervent times of prayer for the salvation of people living in unspeakable suffering. Sharing the bright hope of eternity with Jesus is what prompts me to get out of bed each morning; it’s what motivates me – and all of us at Joni and Friends – to continue the work of sharing the Good News of Jesus through Family Retreats, Wheels for the World, church training… in everything we do.

In fact, this year you’re going to hear us say that a lot at Joni and Friends – we are all about sharing hope through hardship. It’s something you can bank on no matter what the new year (and decade!) holds. So join me this year in pouring Gospel-fuel on your faith…fight the good fight alongside us…light the spark of hope in the hearts of the hurting people you know. And serve with us at Joni and Friends as we share the hope of Christ with people with disabilities people around the world!

–Joni Eareckson Tada