Joni And Friends Daily Devotional 8 August 2024, Thursday Message
TOPIC: Audiovisual Aids
“Just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.” 2 Corinthians 1:5-6
TODAY’S MESSAGE
God uses people as audiovisual aids to strengthen others. But wait: Does it mean that the inspiring person is nothing more than an object lesson from which others can learn? Is that person’s example only for everybody else’s benefit? If so, it makes God seem utilitarian (and we can’t have that!).
When I think of audiovisual aids, I remember the time Bonnie Rennie, a blind woman, read aloud from her braille Bible when I spoke at a church. We all sat there near tears, listening to Bonnie’s strong voice as she read, moving her fingers across the braille pages. I was inspired.
Here’s the neat part: whatever others gain from watching Bonnie gets credited to her account. That’s what the apostle Paul meant when he said, “I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that…your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me” (Phil. 1:25-26). When other Christians gain strength from Bonnie’s example, their joy in Christ overflows…on account of Bonnie. And it’s all being credited to her spiritual ledger.
When Bonnie and others like her hang in there through God’s grace, it does something for the rest of us Christians. It strengthens us. The body is better and brighter. And how wonderful that God credits it all to the account of those who suffer. Truly, one day the last shall be first!
This is good news for you if you think your life doesn’t matter or you aren’t making much of a contribution to the body of Christ. The way you live your life does make a difference—to the church as a whole and to you in particular.
PRAY: God of all comfort, how marvelous to be reminded that you use my sufferings not only in my life but also in the body of believers. Thank you for blessing others and myself in one fell swoop.
Joni Eareckson Tada is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization “accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community”