Be Established
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a beautiful picture for you.
Okay, so I know this is radio and you can’t see pictures, so I’m just going to have to describe it really good. You see, not long ago, Ken and I took a drive up Highway 101. It hugs the California coast along the ocean and through the inland valleys. It’s a gorgeous drive, and all along the 101, the hills are dotted with hundreds of coastal oak trees. Now, they aren’t the kind of oak trees you’ll see back east. What makes them so unusual is their twisted branches and big gnarly limbs, they look like old trees out of a fairytale book! And all the strange twisting in the bark and the limbs they tell a story of the many storms that have swept in off the Pacific Ocean and pummeled those trees. Their roots run deep to hold up such massive branches. I tell you, when you walk up to one of those trees and you look closely, you can really see that these trees struggle—they struggle through California droughts and west coast storms. But, oh, they’re so beautiful.
Sometimes I feel like a coastal oak tree. Oh, I don’t feel as old as they are, but I sure feel like I have seen a few droughts and storms, and it is the perfect picture of how God uses suffering in our lives. First Peter Chapter 5, verse 10 says, get this, “And the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.” Wow, I love that verse because it assures me that my suffering is only for a little while, just a short while, and God is going to call me to His eternal glory in Christ. Now true, more than 50 years in a wheelchair really doesn’t feel like “suffering a little while,” but compared to eternity? Oh my goodness, in light of heaven, my hardships are only momentary; just a little while. And friend, can we hang in there? Of course, we can! And while we are enduring, I Peter Chapter 5 tells us that God will make us strong, He’ll make us firm and steadfast. He will restore us! And we will be all the better for those times of drought and those storms of adversity (if we need a reminder), just like those California coastal oaks.
But do not hope of becoming well-rooted in Christ, or becoming strong if no rough winds pass over you! It is only “After you have suffered,” then you become strong and firm and steadfast in the faith. Friend, don’t miss that prize. Don’t run away from the hard times. Take the advice God gives in the book of James and learn to welcome that trial as a friend, embrace God in those storms because they test your faith; they push and shove and pull at your faith in order to make it strong.
And to help you choose the bright side when adversity hits hard, please let me send you my gift today – it’s a booklet I wrote called “A Thankful Heart in a World of Hurt” and it is yours free for the asking at joniandfriends.org/radio. I especially wrote it for those who feel battered and bruised by hardships, for those who are in desperate, in a desperate need of a thankful heart. So ask for your copy at joniandfriends.org/radio.
Yes, wild and windy trials can be a blessing. So don’t be afraid of the pain and hardships. Don’t try to escape them, drug them, ignore them, medicate them, avoid or hide from them. Because God has sent them; I Thessalonians Chapter 3, verse 3 says not to be “unsettled by trials. For you know quite well that we are destined for them.” Friend, God has a purpose for all the adversity. Think about that should you ever see a California coastal oak tree.
© Joni and Friends
