The Power Of The Call Series

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— … In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. Ephesians 3:1, 12-13

The NIV offers a terrible translation of these verses. He was saying something like this: “Don’t be discouraged about my imprisonment. Have confidence because you’ve been given access to the God and Christ is faithful. His purpose will be achieved through this and more of you Gentiles will come to faith.” Paul viewed his circumstances as just another assignment on his path to fulfilling God’s call for him to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul declared the message of Jesus Christ to the Roman emperor. This was all a part of God’s plan. Bad circumstances were not an obstacle to his call, they were a way to achieve it.

When you walk in your life’s mission that’s how you start viewing life. Even the disappointments and tragedies you experience take on meaning when you factor in God’s call.

Joni Eareckson Tada is an American Christian author, artist, and founder and CEO of Joni and Friends, an "organization accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community". She wrote an autobiography entitled Joni and appeared in a film of the same name. She has a daily radio program also called Joni and Friends, which has over one million listeners each week. "Cindy, I can hardly believe I’m coming up on 38 years of living life as a quadriplegic. Back in 1967, as a young teenager, I took a reckless dive into some shallow water in Chesapeake Bay that crushed my vertebrae and my neck, and that left me floating face down in the water, unable to move, unable to breathe. Thankfully, my sister pulled me up out of the water. They rushed me off to a hospital, where the doctors told me that I would be totally and completely paralyzed from the shoulders down for the rest of my life. "I begged my friends to aid me in suicide. I was so depressed, so discouraged...and when I was even brave enough to think about living life sitting in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, without use of my hands, I begged my friends to aid me in suicide. I asked them to bring in their mothers’ sleeping pills, their father’s razor blades, anything to put me out of my misery." Unable to use her hands after the accident, she learned how to paint by holding a brush in her mouth. She moved to California in the late 1970s, where she met Ken Tada, son of Japanese parents, whom she married on July 3, 1982. They continue to live in California. Joni has grown spiritually through her physical suffering.

God used her greatly. She has been a great witness for God and an encouragement to many. She has written many books… She has visited 35 countries sharing the Gospel. A movie about her life has been translated into 15 languages. In fact, it is very likely that God has graciously used Joni far more as a paralyzed woman than if she had never had the accident. God turned her mourning into joy. She has not chosen to serve God in a wheelchair, but God blessed her, and used her to bless many others.