Joseph and Joni: two lives of faith—lived in two very different millenniums. Joseph, the husband of Mary, took on an assignment to care for the Holy One of Israel. He led his family through a maze of threats, uncertainty, adoration, prophetic confirmations and interesting interruptions. Joseph provided courageous and responsive leadership to dreams and directives from the Holy Spirit. While he’s not mentioned in the Gospels after the Temple incident when Jesus was 12, there is every evidence that Joseph taught his son a trade, gave him brothers and sisters and modeled a life that evidences living in obedience even though he was surrounded by more questions than answers.
It’s been 41 years since Joni Eareckson Tada had a diving accident that left her a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. While it would have been easy for her to slide into a life of despair and self-pity, instead she spent two years of her life in rehabilitation, learning to paint with a brush held between her teeth. Those high-detail fine art paintings and prints are sought after and collected. She has written best-selling books, traveled to dozens of countries sharing her testimony and continues to be an instrumental voice of influence among Christians.
Joseph and Joni: Two people who are unrelated except that they have a very strong common bond … Jesus Christ. The fact that these two very remarkable people have a legacy of trust in God, even when life did not unfold according to their plans, leaves all of us an invitation to not give in or fall prey to the vain imaginations that attempt to dislodge the very relationship that God had in mind from the very beginning of time. Pain, disappointment and disaster all seek to put a wedge between us and our Creator.
Pastor Jack received word recently that Joni has been courageously battling on a new physical front. With all that she’s endured and overcome, she now faces a life-threatening vulnerability. Joni’s website describes the ministry’s dependence on the Holy Spirit! Just as Joseph needed a divine interruption, let us band together and pray for this very special person that God graced our life with for a miraculous intervention!
Joni, we have been so inspired by your courage and faith! Please receive this gift of thousands of us who commit to God’s divine invitation to pray and seek His touch. As you have taught us so well, we have lots of questions and God has all the answers. The Foursquare Church joins together to ask of the Lord today for the impossible to become possible through Him!
