Endurance for the Journey, Featured

For He chose us in Him
before the creation of the world
to be holy and blameless in His sight.
EPHESIANS 1:4 (NIV)



Suffering has inspired and forged more sculptures than one can count – and not just the bronze kind that rest on pedestals in village squares.


Suffering fashions us into a “holy and blameless” image of Christ, much like a figure sculpted out of marble. An artist in Florence, Italy, once asked the great Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo what he saw when He approached a huge block of marble. “I see a beautiful form trapped inside,” he replied, “and it is simply my responsibility to take my mallet and chisel and chip away until the figure is free.”


The beautiful form, the visible expression , of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27) is inside Christians like a possibility, a potential. The idea is there, and God uses affliction like a hammer and chisel, chipping and cutting, to reveal His image in you.

Joni Eareckson Tada

… being confident of this,
that He who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion
until the day of Christ Jesus.
PHILIPPIANS 4:6 (NIV)

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Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Peace

“… for the Lord searches every heart
and understands every motive behind the thoughts.
If you seek him,
He will be found by you;”
1 CHRONICLES 28:9 (NIV)



On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is found one of Michelangelo’s most famous paintings. God is shown reaching down from heaven, hand extended, to touch the outstretched hand of man. The natural human response to pain and suffering is to do just the opposite; to recoil and retreat in fear and anger. When we suffer the very thing we need most – the love and intimacy of God – can seem farthest from us.


Our goal as encouragers must be to gently and lovingly pick up the weary arm and lift it heavenward, connecting or reconnecting it with its source of joy, peace and eternal life.


I will steady him with my hand;
With my powerful arm I will make him strong.
PSALM 89:21 (NLT)



On the journey with you,
Jan & Dave Dravecky

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Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Prayer

Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name;
make known among the nations
what he has done.
1 CHRONICLES 16:8 (NIV)



When God invites us to call on His name, we should never be at a loss as to which name to use. I call the Lord my Shepherd and Friend during those times when God’s tenderness melts my heart and I cry to think how rich and full His love is.


Then there are times when I’m battling pride or wasting hours in daydreams. That’s when God’s Word slices through my sinfulness. It stings. His hand seems heavy. That’s when I call the Lord my Refiner, my Purifier.


There are times when I feel helpless and frightened, when no one, not even my husband or best friend seems to understand. Then I hide under the shelter of His wings. I snuggle safely in the cleft of the Rock. These are times when I call God my Tower, my High Fortress.


When it comes to God one name just isn’t enough. And because Scripture is full of different names for Him, we can always know exactly how to relate to our Lord, whether we fall to our knees in awesome respect or climb up in his lap to be held in His arms.

Joni Eareckson Tada



The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock,
in whom I find protection.
He is my shield,
the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
PSALM 18:2 (NLT)



On the journey with you,
Jan & Dave Dravecky

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