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

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

God points to the peaceful attitude of suffering people to teach others about Himself. — Joni Eareckson Tada

God is more concerned with conforming me to the likeness of His Son than leaving me in my comfort zones. God is more interested in inward qualities than outward circumstances - things like refining my faith, humbling my heart, cleaning up my thought life and strengthening my character. — Joni Eareckson Tada

Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much. — 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

November 27 Share your master's joy! Matthew 25:21 Each of us has dreams. And if we trust Christ with all our hearts, nothing can disable God from surpassing our dreams with His divine reality. The suicide of her husband could not keep God from surpassing Kay Arthur's dreams. Sudden paralysis could not keep God from surpassing Joni Eareckson Tada's dreams. A horrifying ordeal in a Nazi concentration camp could not keep God from surpassing Corrie ten Boom's dreams. God surpasses our dreams when we reach past our personal plans and agendas to grab the hand of Christ and walk the path He has chosen for us. — Beth Moore

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

What has God given you? Moses had a stick, David had a slingshot, and Paul had a pen. Mother
Teresa possessed a love for the poor; Billy Graham, a gift for preaching; and Joni Eareckson
Tada, a disability. What did they have in common? A willingness to let God use whatever they
had, even when it didn't seem very useful. If you will assess what you have to offer in terms
of your time, your treasure, and your talents, you will have a better understanding of how you
might uniquely serve. — Richard Stearns

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

Some people tend to believe that I'm a strong believer, a strong Christian, but that's not true. I'm not a strong believer. I'm very weak. — 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

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

I guess I'm a hopeless case. No matter how much I try, his existence won't budge out of my mind. The only thing left for me to do is to focus on becoming a career woman, stay single for the rest of my life and go to my grave clutching a photo of his in my hand. — Kaoru 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

When asked about her involvements, Joni most often refers to her work at JAF Ministries, including Wheels for the World - a program through which used wheelchairs are collected, refurbished, and hand-delivered, along with Bibles, to needy disabled people in developing nations. Chuck Colson has stated, "My friend Joni Eareckson Tada is one of God's choice servants of today." Philip Yancey has added, "Through her public example, Joni has done more to straighten out warped views of suffering than all the theologians put together. Her life is a triumph of healing - a healing of the spirit, the most difficult kind." You can read more about this remarkable woman in the twentieth-anniversary edition of her autobiography, titled Joni, published by Zondervan. — Joni Eareckson Tada

What an encouragement to realize that God has reserved you and me for a special task in His great work. In His hands we're not only useful, but priceless. — 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

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

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

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

He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace. — 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

When we say yes to the grace of God, we are learning how to die. — 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, Kotoko Aihara ... Now Kotoko Irie ... have finally become Irie-kun's wife. And though this may seem like a happy ending, it is actually more of a happy beginning. — Kaoru 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I had to be healed of my desire to be healed. — 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

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

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

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

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

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

Tada references the accusation in Jeremiah that the people have forsaken God as Living Water by remembering a hiking trip from her younger days. Reaching a clear stream at the end of her trip, she emptied her canteen of the warm, metallic-tasting water and filled up on fresh water. — 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

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

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

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

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

Nothing is a surprise to God; nothing is a setback to His plans; nothing can thwart His purposes; and nothing is beyond His control. — Joni Eareckson Tada

There is a popular saying in Japan that goes "Tada yori takai mono wa nai," meaning: "Nothing is more costly than something given free of charge." THE UNSPOKEN WAY, MICHIHIRO MATSUMOTO, 1988 — Robert Greene

AS a matter of fact, God isn't asking you to be thankful. He's asking you to give thanks. There's a big difference. One response involves emotions, the other your choices, your decisions about a situation, your intent, your 'step of faith. — 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

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

Christianity isn't all that complicated ... it's Jesus. — Joni Eareckson Tada

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