A Place of Healing

by Joni Eareckson Tada

  So today, in spite of everything, to the best of my ability leaning on Him, it’s, “Oh, boy! I get to serve the Lord today!”

  Did you know that kind of attitude is a command? Psalm 100 says, “Serve the Lord with gladness.” In other words, it’s not an option. Serving Him with gladness isn’t a nice suggestion, as if God were saying, “Oh, by the way, when you serve Me today, would you please smile just a little? It would really mean a lot to Me. It would be just great if you could get your attitude in line.” No, serving the Lord with gladness is not something He would like us to do (if we happen to think about it or feel in the mood); it’s something we’re commanded to do.

  Whoever you are, whatever your circumstances today, God commands joyfulness in your kingdom service. And that directive applies whether you’re a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, a parent picking up or dropping off kids at school, a student going to class, a resident in a nursing home, or someone getting ready to lead a Bible study. It counts for people in full-time ministry, homemakers, dishwashers, and meter maids. As a son or daughter of God, whatever He has you doing is service in His name. And He says whatever you do, do it heartily (I like that word, heartily, because it means happily) unto Him. Serve the Lord with gladness, with happiness. It’s not an option.

  Listen to what God says to His people in Deuteronomy 28:47–48: “Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly … you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you.”

  My friends, it’s not enough that you serve the Lord. You must serve Him joyfully and gladly. He is completely displeased with anything less. I would go so far as to say, given Deuteronomy 28, that He won’t even bless such service when performed with a sour, bored, irritated, or resentful disposition.

  As I write these words, I can’t help but think of my new friend, Pam, who lives in a home for girls who are seeking to leave the streets.

  The home, in downtown Hollywood, provides a safe place and a refuge for young women who have fled prostitution and drug dealing on some of the meaner streets in “Tinseltown.” Elsie, who runs the home, walks those streets, shares the gospel, and leads these girls to Christ. If these new converts truly desire to change their lives and commit to new responsibilities, they have a place in Elsie’s home.

  Pam is one such new believer. Although a Christian with a sweet spirit, she bears the scars of knife fights and heroin needles. Her arms are marred and marked with tattoos. But this is one unusual believer. I was immediately struck by her genuine and overflowing joy when she explained to me her new role in Elsie’s home.

  “I scrub the toilets and the bathrooms!” she exclaimed with great enthusiasm. “That’s my job, and I love it!” Pam was so grateful to have structure in her life, safety in her surroundings, and an honest-to-goodness job serving in Christ’s kingdom.

  When I watched her go about her duties that day I visited Elsie’s home, I thought of Psalm 84:10, where it says, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” I guess Pam could paraphrase, “A day in Elsie’s home is better than a thousand on the street, and I would rather clean toilets under the roof of this godly woman than dwell in the flophouses on the boulevard.”

  I was deeply impressed by Pam’s humble, happy spirit toward her job. Her delight in cleaning toilets sprang from a keen awareness of her role in the body of Christ. Few of you reading these words have a background like Pam’s, but every day, each of us rolls up our sleeves to accomplish menial tasks. It could be changing oil at Jiffy Lube, changing ink cartridges in printers, changing the sheets in motel rooms, or even changing a diaper on a little one or on an elderly parent. Like Pam, when you and I consider these jobs as service to Christ, we discover the joy of being “a doorkeeper in the house of God.” It’s just a way of living out Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10: “Whether we eat or drink, whatever we do … do it all for the glory of God.”

  A day of ministry in Christ’s kingdom is far better than a thousand days lived in pursuit of self-destructive pleasures.

  And for me (please hear me, my friend, and weigh the import of these words), a day in this wheelchair serving Him, a day representing Him though in the grip of this unrelenting pain, is better than a thousand self-fulfilled days lived pain free and on my feet. It’s a lesson people like Pam and me are learning every day.

  7. Pour out your all.

  One of my favorite stories in Scripture is the one about Mary of Bethany and how she poured out her vial of priceless perfume on the Lord Jesus.

  I have wondered about that perfume….

  I wonder how long it had been sitting on the shelf in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Was it tucked away in a little wooden chest for safekeeping, like something to bank on for a rainy day? Was it on a shelf covered with a fine film of dust, a shelf so high up that it could only be reached with a stool or ladder? Was it a family heirloom, treasured and protected, handed down from parents or grandparents? Maybe that vial of expensive perfume was being saved for the next generation.

  There seems to be no doubt that it was Mary’s alone to give. We read of no objection from Martha or Lazarus when she poured it out on their dearest Friend. It was up to Mary what to do with it.

  She could have kept it to herself, of course. It could have remained on the shelf, collecting dust rather than being broken open and poured on the Lord Jesus. But then the Savior would have gone to the cross with no lingering fragrance of a godly woman’s sacrificial love, and Mary’s story would have never been told to numberless multitudes in countless languages and dialects all over the world.

  I’m so glad that Mary didn’t save her special treasure for a rainy day. I’m so grateful she didn’t decide to leave it locked in a cask like an untouchable family heirloom. I’m so thankful she broke it open and poured it out on the one and only one who was worth it all and more.

  What Mary did with that perfume speaks to me. There is something about “pouring it all out” in service, dedication, and love to Christ that makes your life truly fragrant. And not only your life—you become a fragrant offering, reminding the Father of all that Jesus sacrificed when He walked on earth. There’s something sweet and precious about cracking open your heart and giving your affection to the Savior in the midst of a difficult or painful situation that takes a simple testimony like yours and pushes it over the top. Because there’s nothing like a song of praise rising out of brokenness that brings glory to our God.

  In the process, it also opens a wellspring of joy and gladness about life.

  Friend, what are you holding onto tightly? What gift or resource or talent have you squirreled away for safekeeping? What are you saving or holding back from being poured out as a sacrificial offering of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord? Yes, I do believe all of us have special, heaven-sent talents we can use to promote God’s name and reputation. In addition, you’ve got some gratitude you can show, thanksgiving you can pour out, smiles you can give, time and treasure you can offer, and words of encouragement you can share with a needy soul.

  Don’t bottle them up.

  Don’t leave your love sealed, “safe” and placed on a high shelf.

  Don’t save your smiles and your friendship for those you know or like or “feel comfortable with.”

  Give gratitude in the midst of hardship, and you’ll find it will be like pouring out perfume on the Lord Himself. It’ll be a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, sweet and fragrant, that will bring great glory to the Savior.

  Just recently, as I was reading in Matthew 25, the following little paraphrase took shape in my mind.

  Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was discouraged, and you gave Me a smile of encouragement and
a kind word.… I was grieving and you sent Me a note and bouquet of spring flowers.… I was confused and anxious, and you took me to Starbucks and gave me your counsel over a caramel macchiato.… I was lonely, and you took Me out to lunch at IHOP.… I was frightened about preparing my taxes, but you showed Me what to do and where to go.… I was a child who wanted to get out of the city and go to Bible camp, and you paid My way.”

  Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see You discouraged and speak kindly to You? When did we send You flowers or take You to Starbucks or buy You lunch? When did we help you with Your taxes or pay Your way to Bible camp?”

  The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.”

  8. Don’t hold back on life.

  The other day my friend Karen flew into town from the East Coast to see me.

  No big deal, right?

  Well, really it is a big deal. Because Karen came by herself, and she is almost completely blind. With a lot of courage and plain old determination, she got on the plane, found a friend to pick her up at the airport, looked me up, and came to see me.

  On the night of her arrival, the two of us went out to dinner at a local restaurant. I had thought she was going to ask her friend to join us, but the friend had to get going and explained she was only there to drop Karen off.

  It gave me a little pause. There would be no one to give us assistance at the restaurant? A blind woman and a paralyzed woman? This was going to be somewhat interesting. When Karen’s friend took off and left us, I think the staff at the restaurant was as nervous about it as I was.

  Karen, however, was all smiles. It was going to be no problem at all.

  Once we got settled, I had to give instructions to my friend. “Reach into the back of my pack, get my special spoon, and please tuck it in the little cuff right here on my arm splint. Thanks. Good. And could you put the napkin in my lap, push my glass of water near you where you can hold it to my mouth for me—you’re not going to knock it over, are you?”

  I don’t mind telling you that some of the other diners seemed a little edgy watching us get ready for our meal. I saw someone eyeing us when Karen—bless her heart—found the water glass, put both hands around it, and lifted the straw—with my verbal directions—to my mouth.

  In spite of ourselves, we had to laugh.

  “Is this the blind leading the paralyzed?” she asked.

  “No,” I said, still laughing. “This is the paralyzed leading the blind, because I have to tell you where your food is on the plate!”

  After awhile, people stopped staring. I think it was because they saw how relaxed we were, despite the circus. I also think they were just a little bit blessed to see a blind woman and a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic enjoying one another’s company. And maybe they wondered just a bit more when they saw us bow our heads and pray out loud to the Father together.

  It was a witness, and I believe it brought our Lord glory.

  He is our strength, He is our courage, He is our enabler, He is the source of our joy. And yes, we got through the meal without spilling any food on the floor or water on the table. (Although I did have to ask the waiter to take my spoon out my arm splint, wipe it off, and put it in my backpack.)

  Life, my friend, is an adventure. Karen said that night, “Joni, my disability is worsening, and I know that one day I may not be able to do this stuff—fly by myself and have a dinner alone with a friend. So I’m going to make the most of the time I’ve got and do what I can with what little I’ve got left.”

  In the course of some of these recent days as I’ve fought for just the smallest bits of normalcy and peace in my war with pain, I don’t feel as if I have very much left to offer at all.

  But in the final scheme of things, I know it doesn’t matter.

  He is the one who will make the most of the little I’ve got. He is the one who took note of the widow’s mite, dropped into the treasury, and affirmed that her little was worth more in heaven’s sight than the offering of those who had given much, but had much more held in reserve.

  Seven

  How Do I Regain My Perspective?

  People who look through keyholes are apt to get the idea that most things are keyhole shaped.

  —Author Unknown

  I picture an early morning just before sunrise—the cooing of doves, the call of a distant quail, the murmur of rushing water, and the soft crunch of two pairs of sandaled feet in fine gravel.

  The prophet and his son walk slowly up to the end of the aqueduct, where the water spills into the Upper Pool; at that very moment, the king of Judah steps down from his chariot.

  I imagine the king looking up in surprise, not expecting to see anyone out there on the road to the Washerman’s Field—let alone Isaiah, the legendary prophet of Jehovah, counselor to his father and grandfather.

  Has the king slipped away from his royal entourage to think through a national crisis, or is he simply checking the water supply and wondering how to protect it from enemy hands? The Bible doesn’t say.

  But we do know that this meeting is no accident.

  God has specifically told Isaiah to meet the king in this very place, at this very time, and with a specific message.

  For a moment (I’m still imagining), no one says a word. The king watches as a morning breeze stirs the old prophet’s long, silvery hair and beard. Ahaz has a right to be wary! So many times, God’s prophets brought fiery messages of impending judgment. But on this day Isaiah bears a word the young king very much needs to hear. This word of the Lord should bring comfort and reassurance to his heart, but will he have enough faith to receive it? Will he allow the word of God to actually change his view of reality?

  It’s a question for every one of us.

  Will we allow the truth of God’s promises to change the way we see life, with all its challenges and obstacles? To ease our fears and calm our anxieties? To give us hope and confidence when there doesn’t seem to be any earthly reason for either?

  One thing the Bible seems to do over and over again is take a man or woman’s view and perspective of a given situation and lay it alongside God’s view of the same situation. And the contrast? Well, sometimes it makes you wonder if the people and God could really be looking at the same circumstance!

  Newly crowned King Ahaz, a young man barely out of his teens, inherited the throne of Judah at a time very much like today, in our own nation. Frightening news reports and scary headlines had everyone in Judah on edge. The word was that Aram, or Syria, had just allied itself with Judah’s other major enemy at that time, the northern kingdom of Israel. Together they had plans to attack Jerusalem, kill the king, and carve up the tiny kingdom for themselves.

  When news of the alliance hit Jerusalem, you might have expected a massive prayer meeting. But no. Instead, there was panic in the streets—and panic in the palace. The Bible says “the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind” (Isa. 7:2).

  Two enemies joining together against little Judah? How could they defend themselves against such odds? How could they survive? What would happen? They felt utterly overwhelmed.

  Have you been there? Or maybe I should put it like this: Have you been there lately? Have you looked at the situations in your life and felt weak in the knees by what you see? What you thought had been a secure retirement has been seriously eroded by the stock-market slide. How will you care for yourself in your old age? Your children have turned away from the good paths you taught them as little ones and seem determined to walk in a destructive direction. What will happen to them? The lab report comes to you in the mail, sandwiched between your phone bill and a pizza coupon. They’ve found the presence of cancer in one of the tests, and you’re to make a follow-up appointment. Will this be
a death sentence?

  Sometimes the challenges and burdens of life look impossibly huge. You feel as if you’re looking up at some towering mountain directly in the path where you have to walk.

  That’s how King Ahaz felt that morning at the aqueduct. How do we know that? Because through His prophet, God immediately set out to calm the young man’s heart:

  Be careful, keep calm, and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart. (Isa. 7:4)

  Say what? Not be afraid? Are you kidding? With two enemy armies on the march? With rumors and threats darkening the horizon like an approaching storm?

  That was the moment God chose to issue the king an amazing invitation. And I believe it is an invitation He extends to every one of us at different times in our lives. Isaiah invited Ahaz to change his perspective for a moment and look at the same situation through God’s eyes rather than his own. And boy did the picture look different! The Lord said, “Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood.…” And of the expected invasion, God said, “It will not take place, it will not happen” (vv. 4, 7).

  Ahaz was seeing these two kings aligned against him as a giant forest fire, consuming everything in its path. But from God’s point of view, they were only two smoldering stubs of firewood … black and charred, used up, all but burned out.

  Then the Lord had one more word for the timid king: “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.”1

  God won’t always change our circumstances, but if we ask Him, He will often step in to change our perspective! He will help us catch a glimpse of life through the eyes of faith, as He sees it. And that glimpse is worth everything.

  In the following few pages, I’d like to suggest several ways that may help us gain that fresh perspective we so desperately need. And just in case you really feel lost in the dark, let me begin with three very simple steps that will send you on your way.