Lessons From A Hospital Bed

By Joni and Friends|Published On: March 23, 2020|Categories: 4-Minute Radio Program|

A hospital bed in a stark white room with a black chair in the corner and a phone on the wall.

Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a little lesson from the hospital.

Actually, considering all the times I’ve been in hospitals, I’ve got many lessons as a patient! Now, chances are, you’re not in a hospital right now, but still, let me share one quick lesson that’ll gird you up for that difficult time when you do have to be in one. The lesson goes back to those first few months I was hospitalized after I broke my neck. I was an athletic teenager and did not know quite what to do with all the time I had on my hands. And so, maybe like you when you’re in the hospital, that television set above your bed is your go-to place, right? Well, for me, the TV became my default setting, and back then I spent most of my time watching “The Brady Bunch” or “Star Trek” or “The Beverly Hillbillies.” Now, I’m not saying these programs are wrong; it’s just that, well, after a while, they turn your mind into mush. And if there’s one thing I really needed when I was first injured, I needed my mind to be on alert; I needed my mind to be renewed, like it says in Romans 12, and not be conformed to the world – and you can lump in television there. Again, not that the episodes of “The Brady Bunch” are bad, it’s just that even good things can be enemies of the best things when it comes to how we spend our time, and how it influences our mind.

So, looking back, no wonder I slumped into depression. Now, sure, a broken neck will make you depressed, whatever, but add to that hours and hours of watching TV and it does not help. I spiraled down into depression because I allowed my mind to wander. I failed to gird up my mind. I lacked self-control. I did not collect my thoughts and gather them and focus them on the best things. It’s why, in Philippians chapter 4, God insists that we are to think about the best things: things that are true and honest, just, pure, lovely and praiseworthy. And that command is not a burden. It is for our benefit. And thankfully, I can say after a year or so, I began spending time focusing on godly things. And part of it was because I just got so tired of being depressed, and I knew I needed help. So, I cut down on TV time and, instead, I upped my time in God’s Word. I welcomed it when visiting friends wanted to pray; I listened to more worship music; I kept my high school Bible on my bedside stand; and I invited visitors to pick it up and read it to me. And my depression slowly began to lift; I was putting into practice Romans chapter 12 where it says, “Be no longer conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind from within.”

You know, I look back on those long-ago hospital days, and, oh, how different my stay in the hospital was this time last year when I was in for cancer surgery. Knowing my propensity to get depressed lying in bed all day? I memorized Scriptures; I prayed constantly with my husband; I tacked inspirational posters on the walls, and I sang my way through suffering. That TV above my hospital bed? I don’t think we turned it on once.

Hey, this is just one little hospital lesson, but there are many more to share in a little book I want to give you called “Lessons From a Hospital Bed” by John Piper. It’s my gift to you. Because I bet you know someone in the hospital who needs a little focus. So, give them something pure and praiseworthy to read in John Piper’s book “Lessons From a Hospital Bed”! Get your free copy today – it’s a gift – at joniradio.org.

And one more thing, we at Joni and Friends would love to pray for you in your hardships. So, share with us your prayer need today at joniradio.org. Again, that’s joniradio.org.

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