Joseph's Coat

Joseph's Coat

A friend of Amy Carmichael once said, "The woman who has no experiences in the dark has no secrets to share in the light."  Her statement, along with Isaiah 45:2-3 encourages me to embrace the darkness as a place filled with treasures and riches stored in secret places.  This woman's words reminded me that the treasures and riches received in the darkness were not meant for my good alone, but rather were given to me to share with others, to help them walk by faith in the pathway God had marked out for them. Joseph, in the Old Testament, passed on this truth to his brothers when instead of killing them, as they deserved, he honored and cared for them.  Joseph encouraged them to trust him, instead of living in fear of his wrath, because, "What you meant for evil, God meant for good."  From the evil of his brothers, Joseph embraced life lessons in the darkness that God translated into a life of service and protection for Israel, God's people. In honor of Mark's birthday one year, and to remind me of this truth, I planted a rosebush named Joseph's Coat.  Few rosebushes I know of have so many painful thorns.
 But in the middle of the thorns grow multi-colored roses, a picture of a treasure in the middle of a painful pathway. While our personal lives may not be lived out on such a huge public platform, God is very present in the darkness and every treasure we receive from Him in our broken places, is designed to offer as a sacrifice of praise for the good of His people.

 Sexual Abuse, Still Birth and Holy Ground

That's one reason we are passionate about producing resources that shine a light into the darkest and often the most lonely broken places in a person's life.  On Saturday I was on holy ground as Dr. Terry Eccles shared her own story of sexual perversion and violation of a child's innocence.  The studio became a sanctuary where our team knew we were on holy ground as Terry described the first time her father violated her, when she was about five years old.  And how the criminal, sexual perversion progressed to the point of rape when she was about nine years old, and how he terrified and manipulated and broke her little girl spirit. Each sentence felt like a physical blow to me as I imagined the little girls I know being methodically pulled to pieces by a man who should be their most safe place.

Lasting Peace

Several days later I listened to the first edited drafts of our Still Birth interviews.  Two couples share their stories of loss and long days and nights of grief.  Each story moved me to tears as they described their deep sorrow and the struggle to understand that each of them grieves differently.

If we ended with just telling stories of broken hearts and shattered lives, our resources would be useless, causing more despair than hope.  But in each of these interviews, each person declared their trust in God's purposes, that while others might see ashes, they are embracing beauty, recognizing that God's plans and purposes are beyond our understanding.

And why would each one of these people willingly step back into the darkness, knowing that these interviews will require days of remembering the sorrow, emotional and mental exhaustion as they struggle to again walk in strength and courage?  Because their worldview requires that they share with others the treasures in the darkness and riches stored in secret places, designed by our God to help point their hearts toward Him.  They are willing to be poured out like a sacrifice so that others will fall in love with Jesus and perhaps hear something that will give them hope and purpose in their own darkness.

On another one of Mark's birthdays, I found and planted Lasting Peace, another rose surrounded by thorns, but giving off a sweet smelling scent, that reminds me of the lasting peace that Jesus represents in my own heart and journey and in the life pathways of so many of our friends.  Please join us in praying for those who will hear these stories of help and hope, that God is already preparing their hearts for the treasures in the darkness, designed by Him, just for them, to help turn their hearts toward His Son, Jesus.

In His grip,
Sharon