A New Thing
Happy New Year from all of us at Joni and Friends! We have much to celebrate, and it all centers around our ministry theme for the year, Isaiah 43:19. God says, “See, I am doing a new thing!” And he adds, “Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Disability can feel like a wilderness—a wasteland of one hardship after another. But this year? Joni and Friends is doing new things. We are making a way through those hardships and blazing fresh, hope-filled paths into that wilderness of suffering. We’re bringing Gospel-joy and practical help to weary, worn-out families worldwide. And we can’t wait to get started.
And, oh, am I energized! Because the new thing God is doing is far better than when he “made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, [and] drew out the chariots and horses,” that is, when he parted the Red Sea to rescue his people out of hard slavery.
“Forget that,” God says. “It is nothing compared to what I’m going to do, for I am going to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun!”
Isaiah 43:16-18
“Wait a minute,” you might say. “What could be more amazing than parting an entire sea?” How about the Son of God parting the heavens to come and rescue his people out of the hard slavery of sin?! That’s the “new thing” God is talking about. Salvation in Jesus Christ is the miraculous, life-altering message that Joni and Friends is taking into the wasteland of suffering! People need not feel enslaved by their sin nor by a hard disability—Christ has come to rescue us from misery and hopelessness. That’s great news for the world’s disabled!
At Joni and Friends there are lots of new things ahead! Like new Joni’s House programs around the world and new countries that will be blessed through Wheels for the World™. And more Retreats & Getaways taking place far and wide in the United States and in developing nations. In every program, we’ll be sharing “the new thing.” That is, fresh new life and hope that happens when a family struggling with disability comes to Jesus Christ.
Friend, I want you to begin this year with an “Isaiah 43” attitude. Don’t expect the Lord to do the same thing in your life in exactly the same way as last year. Get involved with the new thing God is doing—volunteer, pray, give, sign up and serve with Joni and Friends as together we help change spiritual wastelands from despair to hope in Christ.
So let’s pray over the new year together: “Lord God, you never do encores, so in this new year, pour out a double portion of your mercy on people struggling with disability. Do something far greater than we could hope or imagine. Use this ministry to bring the Gospel to yet unreached places where most of the world’s 1.3 billion disabled people are languishing in despair. Rescue them from slavery to sin. Deliver them from hopelessness. Oh, Lord God, take our prayers and gifts and blaze new paths into the wastelands of affliction, all for your honor and glory. It’s a big year ahead but you are a big God—the only God! So, lead the way, Jesus! Do a new thing in our hearts, in our communities, and in this ministry. In your magnificent Name, Amen.”
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