Joni Eareckson Tada - Glorious Intruder: Gods Presence in Lifes Chaos

GLORIOUS INTRUDER
Published by Multnomah Books

1989 by Joni Eareckson Tada
eISBN: 978-0-307-80553-9

Edited by Larry R. Libby

Most Scripture quotations are from:

The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV)
1973, 1984 by the International Bible Society,
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House

Also quoted:
New American Standard Bible
1960, 1977 by the Lockman Foundation

The King James Version (KJV)

The Living Bible (TLB)
1971 by Tyndale House Publishers

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

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2011

v3.1_r1

For
Jamie Kay Trombero
and Carol Tada

When God intrudes,
may you always see it as glorious.

A Special Thanks To

The staff of Joni and Friendsfor being part of the team who helped pray this book into being.

Bev Singleton, Francie Lorey, and Kati Petersonsome of the fastest typing fingers in the West. A special thanks to Francie, who organized so much material and proofed and re-proofed the manuscript.

Al Sanders and Carl Millerour friends at Ambassador Agency, tireless cheerleaders in helping Joni and Friends get our message out.

The Reverend Gregory Hotchkissa fine writer from the Reformed Episcopal Church who started me thinking about the way God intrudes in our lives at the most unlikely times. Im grateful for his wisdom and scholarship.

Brenda Joseewho gave me so much encouragement at the beginning of this book project.

Questar Publishersmy friends, my publishing family.

Larry Libbyeditor and unsung hero behind this book.

G od is an intruder.

He encroaches, presumes, invades, and infringes. He crashes the party. Tears aside curtains. Throws open locked doors. Hits the light switch in a dark room. God pulls the fire alarm in stuffy, sacrosanct hallways.

He intruded primeval chaos and brought forth light, beauty, order, and life.

He presumed upon the life of a middle-aged man in the town of Ur, and brought forth a nation.

He trespassed on the cozy security of the Canaanites, smug behind their walls of stone.

He advanced upon the lofty chambers of kings with finger-wagging, feisty old prophets who called down judgment.

He was the unwelcome guest at Belshazzars feast, writing doom on the wall while the revelers gagged on their wine.

God intruded the womb of a virgin. He stormed Satans kingdom on a Christmas night in Bethlehem. He talked out of turn in Judah and Galilee with words that no man spoke before. He crashed the temple courtyards, overturning tables and kicking commerce out the door with a strong arm and a whip of cords.

God overstepped the realm of death itself, stealing its banner and crushing its lord. And in the Most Holy Place of the temple, He audaciously tore the veil from top to bottom.

And in the end, He will once again intervene in history, judging the nations, banishing sin and death, and setting His throne upon earth even as He rules heaven.

God is a glorious intruder in my life, my thoughts, my pain, sorrow, and brokenness.

The Spirit of the Lord even invades me, taking up residence in my very body. His Word is a razor-edged sword, piercing my complacency and dividing my soul and spirit. He boldly intrudes into my sin, brashly calling it what it is, challenging me to leave it behind.

What can we do but marvel in speechless wonder at our powerful and Almighty Godwho, incidentally, has every right to intrude? After all, can the owner of the house really intrude when he sets foot inside his own door? Can a king be tabbed interfering when he visits the subjects of his own realm? Can a craftsman be thought a trespasser when he wraps his fingers around his own stick of wood?

God, an intruder? From His perspective, never. From our point of view? It happens all the time. Whether He encroaches with a gentle, subtle reminder or in sudden, devastating judgment.

And thats why Ive written this bookso that you may see more of how God intrudes upon your life every day. So you can wonder at it, revel in it, and be gloriously blessed by the fact that your God cares enough to step into your life sometimes when you least expect it.

We dare not think that God is absent or daydreaming. The donothing God. Hes not tucked away in some far corner of the universe, uncaring, unfeeling, unthinking uninvolved. Count on itGod intrudes in glorious and myriad ways.

And thank His holy Name He does!