Choice to Rejoice?
When you find yourself in the midst of a trial, what is your reaction? Anger, weeping, hopeless? Do you believe it is your choice to rejoice? Read on to hear a song that you will love, that is full of hope!
There’s a story of a young, 17-year-old girl who was on a group outing. She was active, promising, and blossoming, with her whole life ahead of her. She was an avid horseback rider who loved life and everything in it. Some would say it was a tragic day when she and her friends were swimming in the Chesapeake bay and she took a dive in shallow water. She hit her head on the bottom of the bay and was permanently quadripeligic.
Helpless and dependent as a quadriplegic, she lay in the hospital striker frame, wanting to die. In fact, she asked friends to help her take her life. She couldn’t even do that on her own. She felt hopeless and purposeless. Until one day, a friend read Scripture and spoke to her. That day she found a seed of hope.
You probably know who I’m talking about– the well-known, Joni Eareckson Tada. It has been many years since those days. Yet, still trapped in her quadriplegic body, she has been able to write books, host a radio show, sing, paint with her mouth, and run an organization that sponsors family camps and delivers wheelchairs all over the world to those whose life is changed forever.
Joni Eareckson Tada rejoices in her affliction. She claims hope in Christ and finds Scripture to help her reframe her circumstances. Joni does not call her accident day a tragic day! It is her choice to rejoice! She praises God for the life He has given her. She sees what God has been able to accomplish through her. She knows the truth of God’s soverignty without a shadow of a doubt. She counts herself as one of many who have found the favor of God in their adversity.
Several years ago, before I ever met Joni, I wrote a song about when and how we should rejoice. Do we rejoice when things are going well? Yes! Do we rejoice in uncertainty? Yes! Should we rejoice in trials? The Bible says, Yes! Do we have a choice to rejoice? Yes! The song is called, Choice to Rejoice.
Click the happy kids below to listen to the song!
I hope this has encouraged you this morning. If you would like to have this song at your fingertips, you can purchase it on the 4-Ever His! CD, along with 7 other songs of encouragement.
Keep your great ministry to your family, your church, and among your friends going!
Laurie
P.S. Amy Hurtado sang Choice to Rejoice on this recording when she was 12. She now works for Joni Eareckson Tada!