God Preserves His Word

By |Published On: December 28, 2017|Categories: 4-Minute Radio Program|

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with an amazing story from Hurricane Harvey.

Shortly after that hurricane that ravaged the east part of Texas, I received an email from a Pastor Steve Baker. Steve and his wife, Ann, were up in Alaska, preparing their long-time home for sale. It was virtually empty now; they had moved all their belongings into their new retirement home located not far from Beaumont, Texas. Everything they owned had been sent ahead to their new home in Texas. As Hurricane Harvey hit landfall in that state, they were back in Alaska, glued to the television. Weeks later Pastor Steve wrote me saying:

“Joni, we saw our house on the Weather Channel as a boat motored down the middle of our street. By the time I got to Texas, everything in the house that we had shipped ahead was piled indiscriminately in the front yard. When I arrived on the scene, the pile had been stacked there for ten days. It was one big stinking, slimy mess. I was heartsick, and spent the first few days randomly picking through the pile for anything of value that we could list on our claim to FEMA. At the end of the eighth day, I was convinced I had found everything that was worth saving. Then, I noticed a little section which evidently, I had overlooked. In this pile I found my missing cowboy boot, the mailbox, and lots and lots of books, jumbled between layers of sheetrock. Not one book was salvageable. Most had to be handled with gloves.”

Pastor Steve went on to say, “Joni, I started lifting up pieces of debris to see what was underneath, and I spied the corner of the plastic slipcover of our treasured Beyond Suffering Bible, the one you had autographed and sent to me. The plastic was sealed, virtually pristine—like it had just arrived in the mailbox. The slipcover had hardly any dust on it from the sheetrock and only one or two minute stains. I ran into the house and gave the slipcover a quick wipe with alcohol to kill bacteria and remove the stains. I assumed that the Bible inside would be all swelled up and slimy. But to my amazement, the Bible was also pristine — literally unspoiled. Now, there is absolutely no natural explanation for why this Bible survived as it did. Even under normal circumstances, leaving a Bible outdoors in the Gulf Coast heat and humidity for three weeks would damage or destroy it. I am convinced that it was somehow ‘hermetically sealed’ by the Holy Spirit for a purpose.

 “And I discovered that purpose as I continued sorting our belongings in the yard. Every time a volunteer would come by to offer food or water, prayer or blankets or kind words, I would invite them to come inside to ‘see something really amazing’ and then, I’d use your Beyond Suffering Bible as a witnessing tool. I took it to Sunday School and church as a ‘show and tell’ example of the subtitle ‘Where struggles seem endless, God’s hope is infinite.’ Seeing how God’s Word survived gave such hope to so many who had lost so much.” Wow! Oh my goodness, friend, you have to be inspired by that, right? Visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org/radio and see a photo of Pastor Steve’s Beyond Suffering Bible and all the devastation around it. And while on my page, don’t forget to download your schedule for reading through the Bible in 2018 with Ken and me. We get started in just a few days. Finally, pass on this little story from Hurricane Harvey, because when struggles seem endless, guess what? God’s hope is infinite.

© Joni and Friends

Recent Posts