Joni Eareckson Tada Quotes & Sayings

I have an interesting perspective on depending on others. I think it gives people a chance to serve. And I'm not so much big on independence, as I am on interdependence. I'm not talking about co-dependency, I'm talking about giving people the opportunity to practicing love with its sleeves rolled up. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God's strength in you. — Joni Eareckson Tada

No other religion, no other, promises new bodies, hearts, and minds. Only in the gospel of Christ do hurting people find such incredible hope. — Joni Eareckson Tada

My weakness, that is, my quadriplegia, is my greatest asset because it forces me into the arms of Christ every single morning when I get up. — Joni Eareckson Tada

There is nothing that moves a loving father's soul quite like his child's cry. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God deliberately chooses weak, suffering and unlikely candidates to get His work done, so that in the end, the glory goes to God and not to the person. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Perspective is everything when you are experiencing the challenges of life. — Joni Eareckson Tada

You better be very convinced, very sure, before you pull your plug or someone else's plug, that you know what's on the other side of the gravestone. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God permits what He hates in order to accomplish something that He loves. — Joni Eareckson Tada

How can we bless at one moment and curse at another? — Joni Eareckson Tada

The problem of suffering is not about something but about someone. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Love is extravagant in the price it is willing to pay, the time it is willing to give, the hardships it is willing to endure, and the strength it is willing to spend. Love never thinks in terms of "how little," but always in terms of "how much." Love gives, love knows, and love lasts. — Joni Eareckson Tada

This is the only time in history when I get to fight for God. This is the only part of my eternal story when I am actually in the battle. Once I die, I'll be in celebration mode in a glorified body in a whole different set of circumstances. But this is my limited window of opportunity, and I'm going to fight the good fight for all I'm worth. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step. — Joni Eareckson Tada

My wheelchair was the key to seeing all this happen - especially since God's power always shows up best in weakness. So here I sit ... glad that I have not been healed on the outside, but glad that I have been healed on the inside. Healed from my own self-centered wants and wishes. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The greatest good suffering can do for me is to increase my capacity for God. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Jesus went without comfort so that you might have it. He postponed joy so that you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so that you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow. He had no real fellowship so that fellowship might be yours, this moment. This alone is enough cause for great gratitude! — Joni Eareckson Tada

We will stand amazed to see the topside of the tapestry and how God beautifully embroidered each circumstance into a pattern for our good and His glory. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Well, painting is the one thing I do, that is just me. It's me and easels, and the pencils. And as long as I don't drool too much over the canvas, the colors come out pretty good. And it's a chance to express all that I've got inside, that I sometimes keep hidden. And I think that's why I paint big broad, wide open landscapes. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Contentment ... has an internal quietness of heart that gladly submits to God in all circumstances. — Joni Eareckson Tada

We dare not think that God is absent or daydreaming. The do nothing God ... He's not tucked away in some far corner of the universe, uncaring, unfeeling, unthinking, uninvolved. Count on it, God intrudes in glorious and myriad ways. — Joni Eareckson Tada

When we honestly ask God the 'why' question, He doesn't give us answers as much as He gives us Himself. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Oh, how we need to grasp the soul-settling hope found in the pages of God's Word--not only grasp it, but allow the hope of God to fill and overflow our hearts, transforming us into people who are confident and at peace with themselves, their God, and their circumstances. — Joni Eareckson Tada

My longings are best met when, in prayer, I simply let my heart beat in time with the Lord's. — Joni Eareckson Tada

None of us, in our culture of comfort, know how to prepare ourselves for dying, but that's what we should do every day. Every single day, we die a thousand deaths. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God wrote a book on suffering, and its name is Jesus. — Joni Eareckson Tada

There is this fine line between presenting to You all of my weakness and thinking that it can't be done. In Your strength, I find my own. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Whether you send an e-mail, tell your spouse in person, write a letter, talk over the phone, or write a quick note, remember that what you say today has the capacity to transform the countenance and the character of the most important person in your life, your spouse. — Joni Eareckson Tada

If churches around the world would grasp the revolutionary truth that Christ's transforming power always comes through sacrifice and weakness, it would dramatically alter the landscape of the global church. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God wants us to be a good example to others who are observing us. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Programs, systems and methods sit well in the ivory towers of monasteries or in the wooden arms of icons. Head knowledge comes from the pages of a theology text. But the invitation to know God - truly know Him - is always an invitation to suffer. Not to suffer alone, but to suffer with Him. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Every time we go to sleep, it's a rehearsal of the day when our eyes will ultimately close and we wake up on the side of eternity. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Suffering provides the gym equipment on which my faith can be exercised. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Probably, I thought, my suffering and training is a lifelong process. It will end only when I go to be with Christ. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Joni discovered the best way to put the halter on her horse without being animal resisting and fleeing was to turn her back until he nuzzled up to her. At that point, she could slip the halter on. Just so, she surmises, sometimes God waits for us to turn our backs on what we desire most and to trust Him. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I had to be healed of my desire to be healed. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I once read in a Bible commentary that the word "Christian" means "little Christs." What an honor to share Christ's name! We can be bold to call ourselves Christians and bear the stamp of his character and reputation. When people find out the you are a Christian, they should already have an idea of who you are and what you are like simply because you bear such a precious name. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Heartache forces us to embrace God out of desparate, urgent need. God is never closer than when your heart is aching. — Joni Eareckson Tada

But that's the same for everyone if we let society determine our value," Steve explained as he sat down on the piano bench. "We always lose when we evaluate ourselves according to some one else's ideas or standards. And there are as many standards as there are people. A jock measures you by your athletic ability; a student by your brains; a steady by your looks. It's a losing battle," he said, striking a sour piano chord for added emphasis. "We have to forget about what people say or think, and recognize that God's values are the only important ones. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Cancer is such a wake-up call to remind us how high the cosmic stakes really are and how short and brief and frail life really is. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Only God is capable of telling us what our rights and needs are. You have to surrender that right to Him. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God uses suffering to purge sin from our lives, strengthen our commitment to Him, force us to depend on grace, bind us together with other believers, produce discernment, foster sensitivity, discipline our minds, spend our time wisely, stretch our hope, cause us to know Christ better, make us long for truth, lead us to repentance of sin, teach us to give thanks in time of sorrow, increase faith, and strengthen character. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Americans are nervous; Americans are restless; and what troubles me the most is that Americans are uncharacteristically pessimistic. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The truth of the matter is, Satan and God may want the exact same event to take place - but for different reasons. Satan's motive in Jesus' crucifixion was rebellion; God's motive was love and mercy. Satan was a secondary cause behind the Crucifixion, but it was God who ultimately wanted it, willed it, and allowed Satan to carry it out. And the same holds true for disease. — Joni Eareckson Tada

My life goal is to see the world's one billion people with disabilities embraced and encouraged by the church. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Like art, like music, like so many other disciplines, prayer can only be appreciated when you actually spend time in it. Spending time with the Master will elevate your thinking. The more you pray, the more will be revealed. You will appreciate not only the greatness of prayer, but the greatness of God. — Joni Eareckson Tada

True wisdom is found in trusting God when you can't figure things out. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Yes, I pray that my pain might be removed, that it might cease; but more so, I pray for the strength to bear it, the grace to benefit from it, and the devotion to offer it up to God as a sacrifice of praise. — Joni Eareckson Tada

A broken life in the hands of God is ripe for blessing. — Joni Eareckson Tada

That truth set me free, along with other truths like leaning daily on God's grace and realizing that God's children are never victims. Everything that touches their lives, he permits. The irony is, you can't imagine a more victimized person than Jesus. Yet when he died, he didn't say, "I am finished" but "It is finished." He did not play the victim, and thus he emerged the victor. Forget the self-pity. True, your supervisor may be trying to push you out of your job. Your marriage may be a fiery trial. You might be living below the poverty level. But victory is ours in Christ. His grace is sufficient. Know this truth and it will set you free. This day, Jesus, I can feel sorry for myself or victorious in you. Show me how to choose the latter. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God is truly on the side of those who work for social justice, especially when we accompany that work with the giving of the Gospel! — Joni Eareckson Tada

If you had never known physical pain in your life, how could you appreciate the nail scarred hands with which Jesus Christ will meet you? — Joni Eareckson Tada

The weaker I am, the harder I must lean on God's grace; the harder I lean on him, the stronger I discover him to be, and the bolder my testimony to his grace. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The more righteous God appeared, the more resentful I became. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I'd learned that you can't wear a crown unless you bear a cross - that if our Savior had learned obedience through suffering, we should expect the same. — Joni Eareckson Tada

There's a big difference between feeling thankful and giving thanks. One response involves emotions, the other, your will. Trusting God has nothing to do with trustful feelings. — Joni Eareckson Tada

into art or music, how about that exhilarating moment when, during the 1982 Winter Olympics, the U.S. hockey team pulverized the Russians? Whether in front of the television, in the stands, or on the ice, we all became "one" in the euphoria of victory. My strong, he-man father once told me about a time he was standing on the edge of a cliff overlooking Yellowstone Falls - with tears in his eyes, he described how he became one with the deafening roar of the water. If you have experienced any of this, it's an inkling of the joy that will overtake us when we take just one glance at the Lord of joy. We will lose ourselves in Him. We will become one with Him. We will be "in Christ," we will have "put on Christ" at the deepest, most profound and exhilarating level. The Lord's wedding gift to us will be the joy of sharing totally in His nature without us losing our identity; no, we shall receive our identity. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! — Joni Eareckson Tada

Every Christian who keeps looking up stretches his heart's capacity for Heaven. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The Bible is replete with commands to persevere, especially in the face of injustice. — Joni Eareckson Tada

When we say yes to the grace of God, we are learning how to die. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Subdue your heart to match your circumstances. — Joni Eareckson Tada

When I look at Jesus' warm and intimate friendships, my heart fills with praise that Jesus was ... a man. A man of flesh-and-blood reality. His heart felt the sting of sympathy. His eyes glowed with tenderness. His arms embraced. His lips smiled. His hands touched. Jesus was male! Jesus invites us to relate to him as the Son of Man. And because he is fully man, we can relate to Jesus with affection and love. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God's motives, but in understanding His character, in trusting in His promises, and in leaning on Him and resting in Him as the Sovereign who knows what He is doing and does all things well. — Joni Eareckson Tada

It is a glorious thing to know that your Father God makes no mistakes in directing or permitting that which crosses the path of your life. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. It is our glory to trust Him, no matter what. — Joni Eareckson Tada

This sin-stained planet would have ripped apart at the seams long ago were it not for the restraining hand of God. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I want to stay in the habit of 'glancing' at my problems and 'gazing' at my Lord. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God has determined to steer what He hates in a direction that He loves! — Joni Eareckson Tada

Most of the verses written about praise in God's Word were voiced by people who were faced with crushing heartaches, injustice, treachery, slander, and scores of other difficult situations. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God's purpose in increasing our trials is to sensitize us to people we never would have been able to relate to otherwise. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I was in every club and extra-curricular activity at high school, and I was in the National Honor Society. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God doesn't just give us grace; He gives us Jesus, the Lord of grace. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The hallmark of a healthy society has always been measured by how it cares for the disadvantaged. — Joni Eareckson Tada

If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn't surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character ... Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy-utterly, joyfully, surprisingly superfluous ... Heaven is going to be a place that will refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Life becomes inspiring, not in spite of the problems and the hard hits, but because of them. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Anyone who takes the Bible seriously agrees that God hates suffering. Jesus spent most of his time relieving it. But when being healed becomes the only goal - 'I'm not letting go until I get what I want' - it's a problem. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Take those road hazards- the potholes, ruts, detours, and all the rest- as evidence that you were on the right route. It's when you find yourself on that big, broad, easy road that you ought to worry. — Joni Eareckson Tada

One problem I have with faith-healing is that it tends to be focused only on the physical aspect of healing. But Jesus always backed away when people came to him only to get their physical needs met. My goodness, he was ready to have you lop off your hand! His real interest was in healing the soul. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Like all good citizens, the elderly and people with disabilities want to eradicate waste and fraud from government, but helping people with special needs meet their basic needs doesn't fit this description. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The Psalms wrap nouns and verbs around our pain better than any other book. — Joni Eareckson Tada

If you truly believe in the value of life, you care about all of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Each one of us is God's special work of art. Through us, He teaches and inspires, delights and encourages, informs and uplifts all those who view our lives. — Joni Eareckson Tada

This paralysis is my greatest mercy.7 — Joni Eareckson Tada

The best we can hope for in this life is a knothole peek at the shining realities ahead. Yet a glimpse is enough. It's enough to convince our hearts that whatever sufferings and sorrow currently assail us aren't worthy of comparison to that which waits over the horizon. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Here in the sub-Sahara, it seemed that the weaker people were, the harder they had to lean on God - and the harder they leaned on him, the greater their joy. — Joni Eareckson Tada

We rant and rave against God for the evil we have to endure but hardly blink at the evil in our own hearts. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The Christian faith is meant to be lived moment by moment. It isn't some broad, general outline
it's a long walk with a real Person. Details count: passing thoughts, small sacrifices, a few encouraging words, little acts of kindness, brief victories over nagging sins. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Referencing 2 Corinthians 4:6, Robert Hewitt compares jars of clay in the first century to the same value we would put on a cardboard box. Joni Eareckson Tada queries whether we would question God's right to leave some holes in the box in order to give glimpses of the treasure inside — Joni Eareckson Tada

The times we find ourselves having to wait on others may be the perfect opportunities to train ourselves to wait on the Lord. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I'd rather be in this wheelchair knowing God than on my feet without him. — Joni Eareckson Tada

I wished God were like He used to be, a few notches lower. I wanted Him to be lofty enough to help me but not so uncontrollable. I longed for His warm presence, times when He seemed more ... safe. — Joni Eareckson Tada

What a way to learn great theology! That's what comes to mind whenever I sing one of those old hymns. "And Can It Be" is like putting the doctrine of salvation to music. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a melodic lesson in grace. No wonder good hymns make for strong faith! — Joni Eareckson Tada

Alzheimer's disease is never an 'accident' in a marriage. It falls under the purview of God's sovereignty. In the case of someone with Alzheimer's, this means God's unconditional and sacrificial love has an opportunity to be even more gloriously displayed in a life together. — Joni Eareckson Tada

In the Christian faith, God really puts suffering front and center. He doesn't get squeamish about it. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Believers are never told to become one; we already are one and are expected to act like it. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Suffering is having what you do not want, and wanting what you do not have. However, suffering is minimized when we equalize our desires to fit our circumstances. Subtract our wants, and we will be closer to contentment. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Faith means being sure of what we hope for now. It means knowing something is real, this moment, all around you, even when you don't see it. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Amazing, isn't it, that our prayers ... can move the very heart of God who created the universe? — Joni Eareckson Tada

Oh, my goodness, when you're a mother and you just give birth to a child with spina bifida and - or Down's Syndrome or cerebral palsy, there's a bit of a shock you're going to have to go through, a bit of an adjustment curve. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God always seems bigger to those who need him most. And suffering is the tool he uses to help us need him more. — Joni Eareckson Tada

When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating him and quoting him and speaking of him. But only in suffering will we know Jesus. — Joni Eareckson Tada