What is grace and how can it change your life? In this installment of Joni Eareckson Tada’s “Heart of the Founder” series, Joni shares how grace has flowed through her life in a transformational way. When Joni broke her neck in a diving accident and became paralyzed at age 17, she discovered grace like never before—as light piercing through the darkness of her despair and sin, bringing joy and healing to her life, and illuminating the path ahead. Now, decades later, Joni can personally attest to the mighty power of God’s grace—not only in her own life but in the kingdom work of Joni and Friends, which brings Gospel hope to people around the world. Joni invites you to lean on God’s grace, no matter what circumstances you face.
What is grace and how can it change your life? In this installment of Joni Eareckson Tada’s “Heart of the Founder” series, Joni shares how grace has flowed through her life in a transformational way.
When Joni broke her neck in a diving accident and became paralyzed at age 17, she discovered grace like never before—as light piercing through the darkness of her despair and sin, bringing joy and healing to her life, and illuminating the path ahead. Now, decades later, Joni can personally attest to the mighty power of God’s grace—not only in her own life but in the kingdom work of Joni and Friends, which brings Gospel hope to people around the world.
Joni invites you to lean on God’s grace, no matter what circumstances you face.
Sign up to receive Joni’s daily devotional, which will encourage you to depend on God’s grace and take joy in his presence.
Learn more about Joni and her story of God’s Amazing Grace in action.
Get your copy of Joni’s book, Songs of Suffering, which will guide you through difficult times with the help of Scripture, beautiful hymns, and devotionals filled with grace.
KEY QUESTIONS:
When have you experienced God’s grace at work in your heart and life?
How can you lean on grace today to step into God’s purposes?
Who in your life needs a taste of God’s grace (and how can you give it to them)?
KEY SCRIPTURES:
Hebrews 4:16: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Ephesians 2:8–9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
Stephanie Daniels:
Hi friends, I'm Stephanie Daniels, and I'm so glad you're joining me for another Heart of the Founder episode with our founder, Joni Eareckson Tada. Since accepting Jesus as her Savior, Joni's been so thankful for how the Lord has worked in her life. But after her diving accident at the age of 17, she realized that she needed his grace like never before.
But what is God's grace? Have you ever struggled to understand it? God's grace can be defined as his unmerited favor, an undeserved gift, freely given to you and me. Joni's life altering dive brought her to an understanding of grace as God's goodness pierced through her suffering.
It gave her a new and beautiful understanding that now allows her to speak of, sing about, and lean into in a different, a more meaningful and rich way. Do you long for that type of understanding? I know I do. Let's listen now and hear Joni's perspective on God's grace in her life.
Joni Eareckson Tada:
I love singing the old favorite, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound." And I guess that hymn is so beloved because of its story. The composer, John Newton, was a former slave ship captain, an utterly depraved reprobate who was converted by the grace of God. When you read about his stark transformation, you can appreciate how amazing God's grace is.
But, what is grace? And why is it so amazing? Well, grace is the overflow of God's loving nature. It is in God's nature to pour out his undeserved favor to keep rescuing us from sin. And that is the amazing part because we are just like John Newton. Miserable sinners who have broken God's law. We've injured others, and we are at the core oh, so lost. But thankfully, God saves through his son, Jesus Christ. It is his grace that turns cold hearts of stone into warm hearts full of love for God. That's how grace works. It saves us, rescues and redeems us.
Now, this grace meant the world when decades ago, God rescued me from the grip of sin and I professed Christ as my Savior. But after my diving accident in which I broke my neck, I needed grace of a different sort, the kind that could help me to not only survive, but actually thrive in a wheelchair. And that is the other part of God's nature. Because grace is also a power that God gives to help us live well, especially when we suffer.
God says in second Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." And so there is saving grace, and once we're saved, there is grace that helps us live like we're saved.
Philippians chapter 2 verse 13 puts it this way, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." And this is the grace I live on every day in this wheelchair. Oh yes, I am so, I am eternally grateful that I'm saved by grace and I'm glad that I can live by grace, especially as hard as life is with my paralysis. Oh, what a generous God we have. What a merciful God. For grace is not only his inclination to treat people better than they deserve, it is his power that helps us to live in a way that pleases him.
And this is what makes grace so amazing. I mean, come on, the eternal holy God, who can no more tolerate sin than light can darkness, this righteous God died an excruciatingly cruel death to rescue dog nasty sinners like us. And the angels must have stood back thinking, "The Son of God is doing what?" I mean, it was scandalous what happened on the cross.
So yes, grace that saves us is amazing. And then, I'm amazed every time God's grace gives me the power to smile, oof, living half a century of paralysis. It can all be summed up in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16, where it says, quote, "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, to receive mercy," that's salvation, "and to find grace to help in time of need." That is power to live well.
Friend, it is by grace that you are saved, and it is by grace that you live like you are saved. So do what it takes to keep your soul open to the grace of God, and look for that grace in Bible reading, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. And then, you just might find yourself singing Amazing Grace.
Stephanie Daniels:
That's so encouraging. Like John Newton, we've all been lost in our sin and even on our best days as Christians, we still don't get it right sometimes. But the Lord and his kindness keeps rescuing us. We injure others and are so lost, but God's grace is what saves. His unmerited, undeserved favor.
The overflow of God's loving nature helps us live like we're saved. It truly becomes amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. And his grace doesn't just save us, God's grace shows up in our lives in so many ways helping us and causing us to thrive in spite of our circumstances.
Because God shows us his grace over and over, it's easy to sing songs like "Amazing Grace." Another song that I love is, "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." I especially love the line, "Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh, for grace to trust him more." God is so good that he gives us grace to trust him. It's humbling to think that that trust was earned at so high a cost with his son dying on that hill on Calvary.
God works in us to do what pleases him. Oh, for grace to trust him more, even when things are hard. As it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast."
Friends, if you're in need of grace today, and looking for resources, or you just want to explore more of Joni's thoughts on important topics like grace, please send us a message on our Joni and Friends social media, or visit joniandfriends.org/podcast.