Joni and Friends founder and CEO Joni Eareckson Tada is tired of her pain, but she knows who she wants to reach for first.
“I reach for Jesus even before I reach for Tylenol,” she said in a “Diamonds in the Dust” devotional video her organization released last week.
Eareckson Tada didn’t ask viewers to pretend their troubles don’t hurt; she pointed them toward a Savior who understands suffering firsthand.
“I am so tired of my pain, and I bet you are tired of my pain too,” she said.
It’s an unusually frank opening for a message about hope. Before offering encouragement, she made room for the weariness that comes with facing the same hardship day after day.
Eareckson Tada has spent decades helping others navigate suffering. Her official biography traces that work to a 1967 diving accident that left her with quadriplegia and describes how she emerged from rehabilitation determined to help people with similar disabilities. She shares her message through books, artwork and radio, according to the biography, carrying her concern for people living with disability across several kinds of media.
Related: Joni Eareckson Tada Answers Tough Question: Would I Still Take the Dive?
In this devotional, she brought that experience to a question pain can make painfully personal: Does God still care? She acknowledged that she sometimes wrestles with thoughts that He doesn’t know what she’s going through or has forgotten her.
Her answer begins at the cross. Rather than picturing Jesus as distant from human agony, she recalls His suffering and the anguish He expressed during His crucifixion.
“He understands our pain like no one else can,” she emphasized.
The reassurance echoes Hebrews 4:15–16 and 13:5, which describe Christ’s empathy for our weaknesses, invite us to seek God’s grace in need and affirm His promise never to forsake His people. Eareckson Tada’s focus isn’t on denying pain, but on remembering that pain doesn’t mean God has walked away.
“I tell myself that I’m not alone,” she said.
She also widened the invitation beyond people living with physical pain. She named a disappointing marriage, a wayward son and even an email announcing layoffs — different troubles, but each capable of making someone feel terribly alone.
That combination of spiritual encouragement and practical concern also shapes her ministry. Joni and Friends’ programs include delivering wheelchairs and Bibles, offering retreats for families living with disability and equipping churches to welcome and serve them.
Her story continues to reach readers and listeners, too. In a February announcement, the ministry highlighted the audiobook edition of Joni: An Unforgettable Story, including an updated afterword that addresses her daily struggle with chronic pain and her work serving people with disabilities. Her autobiography first appeared in 1976, introducing readers to the faith that helped her come to terms with her injury.
That ongoing struggle matters to the message: Eareckson Tada offers encouragement while still describing herself as a woman in pain. She isn’t reporting that the pain has disappeared; she’s sharing how she keeps turning toward Jesus in the middle of it.
“You can not only come through it, but with God’s help, you can even smile,” she encouraged.
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