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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

We all have pain. Some sufferings we deserve, but many we do not. Deformities? Death of a child? Wartime atrocities? What do you do with these? Why are some people bitter, angry, and harsh, while others are tender, receptive, and kind? Much of the answer is found in their response to pain.

Scripture makes three clear statements about affliction. First, there is no pain-free option.  “In the world you will have tribulation,” Jesus said. (John 16:33 ESV). Second, everyone does something with their pain. Numb it. Obsess over it. Run from it. But thirdly, pain displays God’s glory. We exist to make a big deal out of God. Regarding humanity, God declares, “I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them” (Isaiah 43:7 NLT). And nothing glorifies God greater than faith in the midst of suffering.

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

Shortly after his father’s unexpected death, Aaron gifted his mother with a framed, poster-sized photo of dozens of items that encapsulated his dad’s life—collectibles, photos, rocks, books, artwork, and more—each holding special meaning. Aaron spent days collecting the items and arranging them, and then his sister Rachel captured the arrangement in a photo. The gift was a visual tribute to their father’s life, who despite his decades-long struggle with self-loathing and addiction, never left his love for them in doubt. It also attested to God’s love and miraculous healing power that led to their father’s victory over addiction in the last decade of his life.

When after forty long years God’s people crossed into the promised land, Joshua chose a man from each of the twelve tribes to gather a stone from the dry riverbed to “serve as a sign among [them]” (Joshua 4:1-6). Joshua used these rocks to create an altar and lasting tribute to God’s power and provision (vv. 19-24). The Israelites’ journey hadn’t been easy. But God had been with them providing water out of rocks, manna from the sky, and a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night to guide them—and clothes that never wore out (Deuteronomy 8:4)! The memorial pointed to Him.

God does amazing things! May what we leave behind be a lasting tribute to His love and power.

Too many pastors live with a low-grade ache that their ministry—and they themselves—simply don't measure up. Quietly, comparison creeps in. We look at the growth of others' churches, their charisma, their staff, their buildings… and wonder, What's wrong with me?

In today's episode, I share deeply from my own journey of wrestling with these very questions. I was driven, angry, and often frustrated with my people and context—trying to build something God never asked of me.

But freedom came. Slowly. Through emotional honesty, interior silence, and deep formation.

We'll explore:

• The deadly cost of living from your false self

• How to spot comparison in your soul (and how to resist it)

• Why embracing your unique call is a spiritual breakthrough

• The ancient desert wisdom that reshapes your ministry success metrics
  
  

If you're a pastor, leader, or ministry worker who's tired of chasing an illusion of "success," this episode will give you permission to stop striving—and instead, lead from a place of joy, contentment, and union with Jesus.

Fr. Ronald Rolheiser joins me to talk about his new book Insane for the Light, the final part of his spiritual trilogy that began with The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire. Together, we explore what it means to live faithfully through every stage of life from getting our lives together, to giving them away, to finally giving our deaths away. Fr. Rolheiser shares profound insights on the difference between resignation and surrender, how helplessness can become holiness, and why love is sustained not by emotion but by fidelity and presence. We talk about aging as a spiritual practice, the call to move from bitterness to gratitude, and the deep grace found in letting go. This is a conversation about surrendering in love, learning to live with open hands, and allowing the light of God to shine through us, even as everything else fades.

Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I., is President-Emeritus of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio Texas, where he remains a full-time faculty member and Professor of Spirituality. In 1982, he began writing a column “In Exile” which is carried in Catholic newspapers worldwide. He is the author of many award-winning books including The Holy Longing and Sacred Fire, and his newest book Insane for the Light releases in 2025.

Ron's Books:

Insane for the Light

Sacred Fire

The Holy Longing

Ron's Recommendations:

All the Way to Heaven

Rachel Held Evans

Richard Rohr

Connect with Joshua: [email protected]

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In a wide-ranging interview, Tim Timberlake reflects on a challenging pastoral succession and how he rebuilt momentum. Plus, he discusses getting divorced in his twenties, what he learned about...

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

Thoughts of faith create feelings of hope. So be God-minded! Meditate on him. I recommend doing so by focusing on three specific moments.

Give God your awakening moments. “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly” (Psalm 5:3 NLT). Rather than dread the challenges of the day, thank God for the blessing of the day.  Think less about what you need to get done and more about what God has already done.

Give God your waning moments. Those middle-of-the-night thoughts?  Rather than toss and turn, turn and pray.

Give God your worshiping moments. Young David worshiped God in full view of the giant. Let’s do likewise.

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

American football quarterback C. J. Stroud is young, talented, and an unashamed believer in Jesus. In a profession where the average career span is just 3.3 years, Stroud has been outspoken about where his trust lies. “Football has a lot of . . . twists and turns. But, at the end of the day, it’s all about your foundation. And something that’s set my foundation is my faith.”

Football, or any other profession, isn’t the only sphere of life with ups and downs, twists and turns. Jesus’ story in Matthew 7:24-27 featured two houses, each pummeled by rain, floods, and wind. But only one survived the storm: it “did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (v. 25). This is the metaphor used for Jesus’ teaching (vv. 24, 26).

Yes, storms happen in this life. Sickness and countless other dilemmas can leave us spinning. Though “stormproof” living isn’t an option in this world, building our lives on Jesus and His teaching—our sure “foundation” (see 1 Corinthians 3:11)—makes the difference. Those who refuse to embrace Christ are more vulnerable when life’s storms come. But those who listen to His words will find stability: “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:25). Indeed, it’s all about our foundation.