How God Turned Joni Eareckson Tada’s Setback into Life’s Greatest Gift
By Movieguide® Contributor
After becoming a quadriplegic the summer before her freshman year of college, Joni Eareckson Tada believed her life was over. However, in the over 50 years since, God has used her disability to impact millions of people worldwide.
“What I thought was the ruin of my life — breaking my neck — actually was the beginning of God’s greatest use of my life,” Eareckson Tada told Shannon Bream on her podcast. “He chose the thing that I despised — quadriplegia — He chose it for His glory. And that for me is one of the best definitions of amazing grace.”
“I can’t say what my life would have been like, perhaps I would have gone off and gotten a degree in physical therapy and I would have been accomplishing good work, but Shannon, in the 57 years of sitting down and not having use of my hands or my legs, these afflictions have, well, they’re cut deep gashed in the heart, but in those gashes, God has poured grace upon grace and joy and peace,” she continued. “He has stretched, He has built up my soul with an abundance of my Jesus. The afflictions have stretched my capacity for God, and for that, I’m extremely grateful.”
“God delights in choosing the ill equipped, the untrained, those who have no skills, the weak, the disabilities,” she added. “He delights in choosing the weakest among us in who He can showcase His power and His strength.”
Though Eareckson Tada would never say that her disabilities are good, she recognized the way that God has used them for good. After getting a bearing on her new life, she began to work for God’s kingdom and use the blessings that she has to help those around the world who are suffering.
“People with disabilities in developing nations have nothing,” Eareckson Tada explained. “I received an email from a friend who is disabled in the outlying hills of Brazil, and she lay with a painful broken leg for three days before medics could come and see her. We have so much here [in America] and honestly, Shannon, I believe God allowed my accident to happen so He could call me to help millions of other people with disabilities around the world who have so little.”
Eareckson Tada’s foundation, Joni and Friends, has provided hope to millions of disabled people around the world. Their work has provided critical resources to allow these people to live better lives and experience the love of Christ.
“These are centers where we provide food packages, wheel chairs, hygiene kits, scholarships for surgeries, and it’s just as way to make Jesus Christ real to the world’s neediest and all forgotten and most neglected,” Eareckson Tada said. “I can’t think of a better way to use my life than to pour into other people with disabilities some of the blessings that God has given me; just passing on the blessings, that’s what we do. That’s what we should all do as people of faith.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Joni Eareckson Tada explained how one decision changed her life and how becoming paralyzed helped her see the Lord and live out a mission for His glory.
During a trip in the summer before heading off to college, Tada was swimming with friends when an accident changed her life. She was diving into the ocean when she dove into a shallow area and snapped her fourth vertebrae. The doctors told her she would be paralyzed for life, unable to use her arms or her legs.
“I was heading off the college. This couldn’t be happening. No, this isn’t happening,” Tada recalled thinking. “When the doctor’s words slowly sank in, I became numb with disbelief. And with that, bitterness began to take root.”
“I hissed at heaven, saying, ‘God, I can’t live like this. I will not live like this,’” she continued. “Now, I knew that I could not take my life physically and so I was tempted to end it emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I told my mother to pull my bedroom drapes, turn off the lights and shut the door. And there in the darkness I laid in bed for weeks.”
Thankfully for Tada, God is gracious, and all it takes for Him to move is faith the size of a mustard seed.
