Enjoy Joni:
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7
That verse kept echoing in my mind as I powered my wheelchair through the group of disabled residents in a home for people with cerebral palsy. I clunked wheels with a boy in a bulky, oversized chair while trying to listen to a mentally handicapped girl explain her testimony. Another patient was leaning against the wall, whining to go back to his room.
A nurse wanted me to come and talk to a quadriplegic who was confined to his dormitory. I smiled, nodding at the nurse, and tried to keep my focus on the girl's testimony. It was useless. The nagging whine of the man against the wall shattered what little concentration I had left.
I was far from home and slightly irritated that my sponsors had overloaded my schedule. I had been up all day touring and talking at a rehab center, leading a disability workshop with pastors, and now I was bone-tired. I wanted to scrap the evening, head out the door, and get back to the hotel before they closed the restaurant.
I had to stop. I had to remember that Jesus was with me, moving ahead of my wheelchair, and delighting in the smiles of the faces of each disabled resident. In the midst of the clamor, I discovered His voice, whispering, "Come to me, Joni, you are weary and burdened. Let me give you rest." I paused and prayed silently, asking God to give me His rest. First Peter 5:7 was all the reminder I needed.
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When weariness or anxiety threatens to over take you, place your cares in the arms of Jesus. First Peter 5:7 was a simple prescription for weariness penned almost twenty centuries ago, and no one has improved on it since!
Thank You, Lord, for carrying my cares today!
Blessings,
Joni and Friends
January 15, from Diamonds in the Dust, 1993
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