When pain drives you to the floor, take heart—God is already there beside you, rebuilding hope from the ashes.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada. And last Sunday after church, I wheeled up front to ask for prayer – sometimes quadriplegia coupled with pain is too much to bear. After prayer, I left church surprised by a strange, wonderful feeling of detachment from my hardships, and I thought to myself, “I can do this.” Patricia St. John once said, “...Stooping very low, he engraves with care his name, indelible, upon our dust, and from the ashes of our self-despair, kindles a flame of hope and humble trust. He seeks no second site on which to build, but on the old foundation, stone by stone, cementing sad experience with grace, fashions a stronger temple of his own.” You know, as discouraging as pain can be – so discouraging you can feel your face on the cold, unyielding floor, there is comfort knowing that God has his face on the floor next to you. It’s what Emmanuel means: God with us. God with you.
© Joni and Friends