Randy Alcorn's Blog

Joni Eareckson Tada says, “Suffering is meant to press us up against Jesus. It’s not so much about us...it’s about how I can hear His heartbeat and identify with Him in His sufferings.” And, “My paralysis is about knowing Jesus better.”

Only Jesus is worthy of our trust. Only He can grant us, in this life and for eternity, the deep and lasting happiness we seek.

Do words about God’s sovereignty and providence ring hollow? On the contrary—they resonate more with me than ever. While Nanci repeatedly affirmed God’s province and sovereignty throughout our married life, she spoke about them more and with greater delight in her final four years of life here than ever before.

Recently our ministry got a letter in the mail from a 7-year-old reader. Her note is precious beyond words! And it captures the heart.

This will be my first Christmas without Nanci since 1968, the year we met. It will also be her first Christmas in the direct presence of Jesus. Writing that just filled my eyes with tears of overwhelming joy. She is having Christmas with the One it’s named after, with the One who bought our way to Heaven, with the One who is both her best friend, and mine.

When the classic Dickens story A Christmas Carol begins, we meet Ebenezer Scrooge. This wealthy miser is caustic, complaining, horrendously greedy . . . and profoundly unhappy. (His life illustrates how the word miser is connected with miserable.)