Finding Hope in the Darkest Moments
When life takes an unexpected turn, it’s easy to feel like we’ve hit rock bottom. Whether it’s the pain of betrayal, the weight of loneliness, or the struggle with sin, it’s natural to wonder if God is still with us. But what if we could find comfort in the knowledge that God is not only present in the high and holy places, but also in the darkest, most desperate moments of our lives?
A Personal Journey
Ray Ortlund, author and pastor, knows firsthand the feeling of hitting rock bottom. He shares his own story of being betrayed by those he trusted, and how it shook him to his core. “It was a terrifying thought,” he says. “Have I been wrong all these years? Maybe the truth of my existence is that God hates my guts.” But as he navigated the aftermath of that heartache, he came to realize that God’s love for him was unwavering.
The Power of Suffering
So why is it that suffering and pain have a way of clarifying our priorities and revealing the truth about ourselves and our relationship with God? Ray believes that it’s because we often launch into life with the assumption that we’ll accumulate more and more – confidence, credibility, skills, and so on. But it’s only when we’re forced to let go of those assumptions and expectations that we can truly experience the living Christ in a real and tangible way.
No Rock Bottom Too Deep
The message of Ray’s book is simple yet profound: there is no rock bottom too deep for Jesus. He meets us in our darkest moments, and it’s there that he does his best work for us. But for those of us who have been Christians for a long time, this message can sometimes feel trite or cliched. We’ve heard it before, and it can be easy to take it for granted. But Ray’s experience has taught him that it’s only when we’ve walked through the fire ourselves that we can truly understand the depth of God’s love and care for us.
A Deeper Understanding
Ray acknowledges that he’s come to understand this message in a deeper way through his own experiences. “Pain is God’s megaphone to a deaf world,” he says, quoting C.S. Lewis. And it’s true – sometimes it takes a crisis to wake us up to the reality of our own need and the depth of God’s love for us. As Ray puts it, “I finally began to understand what 99 percent of the human race is experiencing at this moment right now.” And it’s this understanding that has given him a fierce sense of care and respect for others, and a desire to provide a safe and hopeful space for them to come and find comfort.
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