Endurance for the Journey, Featured, On the Journey Together

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely
so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen
or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.
Teach them to your children
and to their children after them.
DEUTERONOMY 4:9 (NIV)

As the mother of two teenagers, the co-founder and left hand (literally) of the ministry Outreach of Hope, and as the wife of Dave “the Visionary” Dravecky, I frequently feel as though I’m forgetting something or someone. In a recent four-week span, I lost my car keys, our gas card and my Bible. But one thing I do not forget – cannot forget – are the lessons I learned in the wilderness of suffering.

I remember because God arranges regular encounters for me with people who are still in the wilderness. When I read their tear-stained letters or look into their sorrow-filled eyes, I remember the pain and I recall the promises of God I clung to for survival. By His grace I am able to share the comfort I received when I passed through those desolate places.

If I just brushed the desert sand off my clothing and went on my way without regularly communicating what God taught me there, I know what would happen: In my human weakness, I would forget the things my “eyes have seen” and I would let them “slip from my heart.”

All praise to the God and Father of our Master,
Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy!
God of all healing counsel!
He comes alongside us when we go through hard times,
And before you know it,
He brings us alongside someone else
who is going through hard times so that
we can be there for that person
just as God was there for us.
2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4 (THE MESSAGE)

On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky