This week, we hear from bestselling author Francine Rivers, who has been married to her husband, Rick, for fifty-six years. She shares how a home Bible study helped carry them from the edge of divorce, what caring for Rick—a Vietnam Marine with Parkinson’s—looks like now, and why she sees death as a beginning.
Next, Bible teacher and speaker Whitney Capps offers profound insight into the process of dying and holding fast to faith in the midst of questions, pain, and suffering. Her story touches on confronting her mortality daily, finding comfort in a supportive community, and experiencing deep peace through uncertainty.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Esther Fleece Allen
Upcoming interview: Jaccob and Josiah Slavin
Jesus Calling: Harvest of Blessings
The Melody of Grace Bible Study
Interview Quotes:
“I think you start out with this passionate love for each other, it doesn’t die away, but your love grows and changes and matures.” - Francine Rivers
“You’re growing all the time. Things are changing, your life is changing, and you have a lot of different phases. And it’s worth the work. The love deepens, I think, as time goes by.” - Francine Rivers
“I’m in the Word every morning, and I think that’s really important to set the course for the day. I notice that when I don’t do that, for whatever reason, something happens and my day doesn’t go nearly as well. It’s a way to make sure God is in control of your day.” - Francine Rivers
“The way I look at death, you don’t really know what it’s going to be like, but you know what’s on the other side is joy that God’s promised us. So we kind of focus on that more than anything—what’s beyond, not necessarily the difficulties right now.” - Francine Rivers
“We have an embarrassment of riches in terms of community. The Lord’s kindness is not lost on me.” - Whitney Capps
“I’m really grateful that [God] was kind enough to superintend and go, ‘No, you don’t have to wait for a story to make a difference in ministry. Just being in the Word is enough.’” - Whitney Capps
“I think we should show up with our pain because whatever story we’ve been asked to steward can be heavy, it can be hard, and it shouldn’t be compared to somebody else’s hard. Whatever we’ve been asked to steward, those are stories that are worth talking about in the church.” - Whitney Capps
“I’ve followed the doctor’s protocols and we really have followed every avenue that the Lord gave us as an option. But the thing that I’ve discovered, more than any of those gifts of grace, is that He is the chief gift of grace. His presence is the thing that I want more than anything else, and His presence is the only thing that gives me any sense of control.” - Whitney Capps
“The reality is, when I see Jesus face-to-face, it’ll be the most alive I’ve ever been. Cancer cannot steal one day from me. We rest in the sovereign plan of God. He knows my final day before I was born, and cancer doesn’t have the authority to change God’s plan.” - Whitney Capps
“I know that [God] can heal me, and yet He chooses not to. I don’t think we talk about that enough—the spiritual kind of barrenness of going, I have not doubted for one day that God could miraculously heal me. And we pray for miraculous healing, but there is a wrestling that happens when His answer is no.” - Whitney Capps
“I have had to shift what the goodness of God looks like to me. I can’t think about it as ease or comfort. The goodness of God is being with me in the days of suffering. He is with me in the messy middle.” - Whitney Capps
“This has been a hard story, and there’ve been lots of tears shed as I think about the possibility of not being here for my boys, not being there for my husband. Those are some of the things I wrestle with. Ultimately, our family has chosen to just say, ‘Why not us? We have been incredibly blessed. So why not us? Why not a hard story, and what can we do with this story that makes much of Jesus?’” - Whitney Capps
“I think it’s so kind of our God to allow us lament, that He doesn’t expect us to hide our pain from Him. I find great comfort in that, that He’s not offended by our sorrow or our pain—that He entered into it, in the person of Jesus Christ, but even before the incarnate Christ, He allowed His people the space for our souls to cry out.” - Whitney Capps
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Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!
Audio Interviews: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7
Video Interviews: https://bit.ly/4f79RAW
Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/4q5iTCx
Scripture Series: https://bit.ly/4wAVGKU
Celebrity Readings: https://bit.ly/4bIS5BJ
Video Devotionals: https://bit.ly/4fG1kFb
Sleep Meditations: https://bit.ly/4w0xu37
Shorts: https://bit.ly/3RHFubh
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