Light and Dark

Are you familiar with Louie Giglio? He does some wonderful work. He has worked with Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin on projects - even went on tour with them and shared verbally...moving people's hearts with his words the way Redman and Tomlin move people's hearts in their music.

I found some online videos of his speaking last night and listened to one. It was about the difference in how we view the world verses how God views the world.

Think about the creations of God as a 'universe-large' canvas of art. All of the things God does come out on that canvas that is larger than our imaginations.

Then there is us. We go about our days and see the world - only we can only see a 4x6 picture postcard of God's canvas. Our view of God's canvas is limited to our little postcard - making us wonder, sometimes daily, about what in the world God is doing - unable to understand even a little.

Have you ever seen those large pictures that are made up of little pictures? You know - the ones I think of most are the ones that make a flag or another patriotic scene. They are composed completely of smaller pictures of people or places or things.

What if we were each a picture in one of those creations? To make the overall effect work, some of us would have to have pretty dark backgrounds. Some would have very light ones. Some would be somewhere in the middle. But altogether, the scene would be indescribably moving.

What if the dark time in your life is necessary to the overall picture?
I remember some dark times in my life.
At one point in my life I was raped.
At one point in my life my fiancee dumped me for the girl who lived downstairs at seminary.
At one point in my life I thought I had just lost my baby.
At one point in my life I thought my husband was having an affair.
At one point in my life I thought about leaving my husband.
At one point in my life there wasn't enough money for a significant period of time and we wondered how we would get through.
At several points in my life I have had to pack up everything and move far away from a place where I was comfortable, secure, and well-loved.
At several points in my life I have lost loved ones to death.

Are we able to see how those dark times might be times that God will use for His glory, for His canvas? I have been able to use many of these from my own life to connect, share, and counsel with ladies from the churches I have served. And that doesn't mean that God only uses them if you're a pastor's wife. There is connecting, sharing, and counseling going on between women all over the globe and most of them aren't pastor's wives!

Isn't it a wonderful feeling when you can honestly say "I understand - I've been there too" when someone needs to talk? Well, you wouldn't have been there if it hadn't been for the dark time you had been through!

There are lighter times, too!
At one point in my life I walked down the aisle to the man of my dreams.
At 3 points in my life I looked down into the face of my newborn child.
Daily I look at my kids and my husband and thank God for the blessings He showers on me through them.
At several points in my life I have been able to share deeply with friends I love about things about which they care deeply.
Every day we all can look around us and count the ways our lives are light - even when it's a dark time.

I have loved ones and friends going through some really dark times right now.
I have loved ones and friends going through some really light times right now.
Together we join the world to create the tapestry that God calls Earth.
We should rejoice with those in the light times and give a hand to those in the dark times.
Look around you - how can you help someone in a dark time or rejoice with someone in a light time?
The choice is yours.