Playing Through the Pain: Growing in Darknessமாதிரி

Imagine for a moment that you are a piece of paper, not an ordinary standard size paper but a specialty paper made for a distinct PURPOSE. Specifically, you are photographic paper. Not the kind that you put into a Canon Printer, that waits for a duplicate image to be laser-printed onto its surface. But the kind of photographic paper that can only become all that it is meant to be when it is held in the hands of the photographer and taken into the dark room.

If you listen closely, you can hear the photographer’s voice talking about how incredible and unique the photo will be when the process in the dark room is complete.  

But the difference between the photographer and you, at least in the beginning moments of the process, is that he has already seen through the lens what you were to become when all you can see is a blank slate.

In Malachi 3:3, God is referred to as the silversmith who sits as the refiner and purifier of the ‘blank slate’ silver. We believe that God knows what He is doing. But sometimes it is still so hard.

God’s perspective is always more advanced than our own, but the question is not ‘Can God see the finished product of you and me?’ 

The question is ‘Will you and I choose to keep moving forward in this process that we call life even when the darkness is all that we can see?’ 

Remember back on Day 1, I asked you a question: 

How many of us feel like we are believing for what has not been done yet? 

Sometimes the dark is painful, sometimes the unknown is a struggle, and sometimes the anxiety is overwhelming.

I love the scripture, but for our time together I want to invite you to see yourself in David’s story. The country boy who lived his childhood amongst the sheep is well known. You can find David’s story in the book of 1 and 2 Samuel.  

Consider this… the darkness is what prepared David for his most well-known battle. The darkness was the threshold to his future, even though from the outside it looked like it would keep him wandering in the field forever. The darkness is where he looked to be the most alone, but it’s also where he was most at peace. The darkness is where he fine-tuned his musical skills that would eventually pave his pathway to the palace. It was out of the darkness that he came to be anointed king, but directly after being chosen by God in front of a disapproving father and seven jealous brothers, he was strangely directed to go back into the darkness.  

It makes me think of homemade bread. The dough must be kneaded, allowed to rise, and then cooked before it reaches its fullest potential. David was put back into that place of process where he stayed hidden for a bit longer.

What about you? Where are you at in your process?  

How does the darkness feel to you? Painful? A struggle? Overwhelming?