In an excerpt from the book, Mitchell says, “As travelers through life we trudge along with burdened backs, distracted minds, and wounded hearts. Where can we go for inspiration and courage to manage the messy, the mundane, and all the lanes in between?”

Her answer is God’s Word, and Mitchell knows this from experience. She and her husband, Pastor Bill Mitchell, “experienced the raw side of life through a myriad of unexpected open heart surgeries, a traumatic heart transplant and their son James’s sudden death.” Mitchell said, “God allowed us to taste such darkness despair and sorrow, and so I write from that well, and I’ve known God to be trustworthy even in the darkest place.”

Asked how she answers people who may question why God allows people to experience such heartache, Mitchell explained, “His highest goal for us is for us to know him intimately. God allows even those he loves dearly to suffer and know disappointment, knowing he’s going to carry us through it and teach us something deep about Him through it… What I learned through our sorrow and tears is that he was crying with me. He hadn’t abandoned me, and I want to get that message out.”

About Elizabeth Mitchell

An inspirational speaker and Bible teacher, Mitchell offers weekly encouragement on her blog, Journeyfortheheart.com, where her gift for imagery and metaphor breathes life into biblical concepts she has gleaned from God’s word.

“People love just a chunk of encouragement and hope. The devotionals are written to make God’s word practical and attainable,” she said. Whether you’re facing mountains or the annoying pebble, Mitchell said The Way There points “the way to tomorrow, the way to heaven and everything in between.”

What follows is the devotional Mitchell recalled as her favorite. Entitled “Sand Storm,” it is based on Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”

Sand Storm

Lions crouching at the door with tigers at your back…swarms of locusts overhead and quicksand beneath your feet are pictures of elusive escape routes without a rescuer in sight. The only sound slips between cracked lips as a faint whisper: “Help. Help me, Lord.”

Long prayers have never been the prerequisite for Almighty God to move. His hand extends and clamps the lion’s jaw. A fire blazes, and frightened tigers freeze.

He exhales a boisterous wind that blows locusts far off. And with his righteous right hand he grips your trembling frame; your location is unchanged, but now your companion is shield and bulwark.

Simply put, he is Savior. Strip away metaphors and dramatic scenes and he remains steady, uncompromising, true. David knew of lions and bears. Their paws were practice for the enormous javelins and spears Goliath would one day wield.

The giant did not evaporate; the sling did not morph into a tank. But, the Spirit of the Living God empowered a faith-filled boy to accomplish the mighty feat of toppling the big man.

Later, the boy would be king. We still breathe his recorded prayers back to Almighty God. “May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob protect you! May he send you help from the sanctuary… May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans” (Psalm 20:1-4). The giant held weapons in his hands. God held the boy in his. The latter trumps the former every time.

Elizabeth Mitchell serves at Boca Raton Community Church along with her husband Pastor Bill Mitchell, and is part of the faculty of WorldLead, mentoring and training leaders worldwide. Visit her blog at Journeyfortheheart.com.