Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Thursday July 24 2025
(More Bible Studies Available @ www.marktabata.com.. To Receive Free Bible Studies And Updates Via Email, Contact Mark Tabata @ 606-216-1757 (Text Message) or markatabata@gmail.com (Email). Follow me on Substack: substack.com/@marktabata. Also please visit my author page: amazon.com/author/marktabata).
Matthew 24:13-But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Charles Spurgeon, the famous Baptist preacher, is one of my favorite thinkers. His books and sermon notes are phenomenal. I want you to think with me about a statement he wrote many years ago:
“By steady perseverance, the snail reached the ark.” (Eritz Canan, Charles Spurgeon Quotes Book, 43 (Kindle Edition): Kress Christian Publications)
Let’s think about some lessons from this statement.
Have you ever stopped to think about how difficult of a journey it would have been for the snail to reach Noah’s Ark? That’s often how things are for us. We go through life and when we face challenges, their solutions seem so far removed! Our strength is fleeting, and we question if there is any real end in sight. Sometimes all we can do is what Abraham did: take the one step in front of us even while not knowing exactly where we are going!
Hebrews 11:8-By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
When the snail reached the Ark, he realized that there will still be frightening storms and a terrible Flood ahead. There will be challenges to face, but the snail realized an important truth: he does not have to face the difficulties alone! What a great day it is when we realize and gratefully accept that we do not have to fight the battles of life by ourselves!
Hebrews 3:12-13-Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “TODAY,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Galatians 6:1-2-Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Somewhere along the journey, the snail comes to learn that there is a plan and a design at work for all that is taking place. Isn’t it encouraging to know that God has good reasons for allowing the sufferings that we endure in life?
Genesis 50:20-But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
One woman who survived the Holocaust said it like this:
“My life is but a weaving, between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colors,, He worketh steadily. Oft times He worketh sorrow, and I, in foolish pride, forget He sees the upper and I the underside. Not till the Loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvas, and explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver’s skillful hands, as the threads of gold and silver, in the pattern He has planned.” (The Tapestry, by Corrie Ten Boom)
Finally, the journey for the snail must have been difficult at times, yet when he made it to Noah’s Ark, he appreciated the knowledge that the trials were worth the effort! Isn’t that what Paul tells Christians as we face the difficulties of life?
Romans 8:18-For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Father, thank You for the snail and the lessons we can learn from him. Guide us and help us. Amen.
Leave a Reply