Shelter in Place with Joni: A 7-Day Devotional Reading Plan, Part 2Sample

Let Truth Be Told

I was at a loss for words when a young girl with disabilities in Bangalore, India, told me, “My aunt said I would have to go through eight reincarnations before I could become a whole person.” A doctor from New Delhi said, “Most people do not consider children with autism to be human.” On that same trip while I was in Africa, I met mothers who were beaten because they gave birth to children who were blind or disabled. A man told me his sister who has cerebral palsy had been left out in the jungle for the animals to take—“My parents thought it would appease the animist spirits,” he said. In Southeast Asia I met people who thought disabilities were “curses from the shamans in the village.” My heart broke when several women with disabilities told me they were “easy targets for abuse.”

Isaiah lamented, “Truth is gone, . . . no one intervened to help the oppressed” (59:15-16). This is the commission God has given us. Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). When we follow his way and carry the truth into the dark corners of the world, we bring light, hope, and deliverance. Jesus tells the truth about everything from the Atonement to autism, from the Resurrection to rickets, from Sanctification to spina bifida.

The overwhelming needs of people in developing nations can either make you shake your head and walk away or fill your heart with Christ’s compassion. Support the work of your church’s missionaries who labor among the world’s neediest people. Ask God to raise up those who will intervene and bring justice, mercy, and the hope of Christ’s love to a world in need.

Prayer

Lord, show mercy and justice to hurting people around the world. Empower and provide resources for Christian missions and relief organizations who bring your compassion and speak your truth wherever there is darkness. Amen.

Today’s devotional reading is from the Beyond Suffering Bible published by Tyndale House Ministries in partnership with Joni and Friends.