Articles, Endurance for the Journey, Featured

Winter Storms
“The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;
His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke,
the Rock of Israel said to me:
When one rules over men in righteousness,
when he rules in the fear of God,
he is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings the grass from the earth.”
2 SAMUEL 2:2-4 (NIV)

Roaring winds, the spray of sleet and snow … Do you remember winter storms as a child? I sure do. I’d shiver under my quilt, listening to the creaking branches outside of my bedroom window. Moaning winds made me feel lonesome. I hoped sleep would let me escape the night, but every time I’d nod off, rattling windows would shake me awake. I watched the twisted shadows of branches jerk madly across the bedroom wall. Would morning ever come?

Yes, but with it came a different picture. I awoke to soft rays of sun warming my bed covers. The howling had ceased. Quiet called me out of bed and to the window, where I gasped at the dazzling white landscape. It was … beautiful. There are days when my soul feels windblown, raw and exposed – times when I’m tossed in a blustery tempest with everything breaking loose. But the God who brings beauty out of blizzards promises to bring peace after the storm. And when the beauty dawns, I hardly remember the fright of that stormy trial.

JONI EARECKSON TADA

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.
Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.
But take heart,
because I have overcome the world.
JOHN 16:33 (NLT)

On the journey with you,
Jan & Dave Dravecky