“There’s nothing life can throw at us that God can’t use to draw us closer to him.”- Kyle Idleman
In Chapter 2 of The End of Me, Kyle Idleman observes that it’s human nature to do everything one can to stay away from suffering in the first place. But we take things one step further when suffering inevitably hits. We do everything possible to stay away from mourning. And when we do catch ourselves mourning, we embrace avoidance behaviors to do all in our power to make mourning go away.
Pastor Idleman refers to this as a “grim quest to turn that frown upside down.” However, Kyle explains, that frown won’t go away because gravity keeps tugging at the edges. Rather than mourn, we shift our efforts to getting over it. In fact, a man named Jeff Goldblatt founded Get Over It Day (March 9th).
Kyle counters that Jesus wants us to realize we can find incredible blessings hidden in the shadows- but that blessing only may be visible through the lens of our tears. Through the unique focus of those tears, the intruder begins to look strangely like a guest.
When adversity hits, we can’t see anything bigger than our loss. The truth is God more than fills that space, including spaces we didn’t know we had. Kyle concludes:
“. . . those who follow Jesus find that their pain is not wasted. There is a blessing that seems totally illogical. It requires climbing to the bottom of the deepest pit, without a flashlight, venturing far into the darkness. But the blessing is there, and it’s worth everything.”
Today’s question: What Scriptures have helped you find blessing hidden in the shadows? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Spit first. Dig second.”
