When unexpected suffering strikes, follow Christ’s example by embracing hardship with faith and self-denial on the road to Calvary.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada. You know, most of us do everything we can to avoid suffering. It’s common sense to walk a wide circle around a beehive and not take a dip in the ocean when there’s a riptide. But some suffering is unavoidable – the bad medical report, the unexpected death, or the drunk driver crossing a yellow line. When unexpected hardships hit, we have double-the-assurance that they are orchestrated by God – and for that reason, we can trust him with great confidence. So, if a terrible hurt has come your way, choose the trustful response. Christ chose suffering; it just didn’t happen to him. And now he calls you to do the same, to enter into that awful hurt, take up your cross, and follow Jesus on the Calvary Road, denying yourself the pleasure of complaining and making sacrifices for the sake of those hurting much worse around you. It’s what the road to Calvary is all about.
© Joni and Friends