Finding God in dark places
I had a disturbing day yesterday.
On Tuesdays I go to seminary at Lincoln Christian Seminary. It's about a 90 minute drive. On those days I listen to podcasts from Mars Hill (Rob Bell's church), Southland (Jon Weece's church), Breakpoint (Chuck Colson), and my own podcast (I figure if I force 200 people a week to listen to me than I should at least do the same).
I started down the road and put on this podcast (be warned - this one is not for kids) from Dan Allender, who was teaching at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is teaching on Matthew 5:21-30 about murder and adultery. It is his contention that we really find God in the dark places. If we venture to go into the dark places in our own lives and in our world we will find God there. It isn't that we are looking for God, but we are looking at our own brokenness. We realize God is there in our brokenness and in the brokenness of others. Allender shares that one of his friends works in the investigation of the child porn industry. It is her job to identify the people in the videos and bring them to justice. I can not begin to guess how terrifying that job is. I don't think anyone would actually want to do that job, but it does need to be done. He shared one story that made me almost vomit in my car.
Now - I needed to here that story. I needed to know just how real and terrible the child porn industry is. What can I do to help stop this terrible thing? What can I do with my influence, friends, family, and community to stop the spread of this heinous thing?
Terrible.
Then I went to my class and we watched a movie called Amazing Grace about the life of William Wilberforce. He is the force behind the effort to stop the horrible cruelty of the slave trade. The movie took us to several dark places. Just how horrible it was for someone to be stolen from their home and forced on to a boat to become a slave. More than half of the slaves died on the boat. During the three week journey the slaves that lived were trapped in a tiny casket with no toilet. It was terrible.
Terrible.
Wilberforce had to thrust himself into this in order to stop it. Thank God that he did. It took his health and much of his life, but it happened. Wilberforce had to go into the dark places.
I did not have the best of days yesterday. I know that November 24, 2009 has helped to shape me. How? What will this do in my life? I don't know.
I do know that God never asks us to shy away from dark places. I am thankful that God is in those terrible places. I pray that he uses us to fix them.
On Tuesdays I go to seminary at Lincoln Christian Seminary. It's about a 90 minute drive. On those days I listen to podcasts from Mars Hill (Rob Bell's church), Southland (Jon Weece's church), Breakpoint (Chuck Colson), and my own podcast (I figure if I force 200 people a week to listen to me than I should at least do the same).
I started down the road and put on this podcast (be warned - this one is not for kids) from Dan Allender, who was teaching at Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is teaching on Matthew 5:21-30 about murder and adultery. It is his contention that we really find God in the dark places. If we venture to go into the dark places in our own lives and in our world we will find God there. It isn't that we are looking for God, but we are looking at our own brokenness. We realize God is there in our brokenness and in the brokenness of others. Allender shares that one of his friends works in the investigation of the child porn industry. It is her job to identify the people in the videos and bring them to justice. I can not begin to guess how terrifying that job is. I don't think anyone would actually want to do that job, but it does need to be done. He shared one story that made me almost vomit in my car.
Now - I needed to here that story. I needed to know just how real and terrible the child porn industry is. What can I do to help stop this terrible thing? What can I do with my influence, friends, family, and community to stop the spread of this heinous thing?
Terrible.
Then I went to my class and we watched a movie called Amazing Grace about the life of William Wilberforce. He is the force behind the effort to stop the horrible cruelty of the slave trade. The movie took us to several dark places. Just how horrible it was for someone to be stolen from their home and forced on to a boat to become a slave. More than half of the slaves died on the boat. During the three week journey the slaves that lived were trapped in a tiny casket with no toilet. It was terrible.
Terrible.
Wilberforce had to thrust himself into this in order to stop it. Thank God that he did. It took his health and much of his life, but it happened. Wilberforce had to go into the dark places.
I did not have the best of days yesterday. I know that November 24, 2009 has helped to shape me. How? What will this do in my life? I don't know.
I do know that God never asks us to shy away from dark places. I am thankful that God is in those terrible places. I pray that he uses us to fix them.
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