There books that come into our lives at just. the. right. time. Nancy Ortberg's book called Seeing in the Dark is one of those special books. She talks about the times of our lives when God can be silent or elusive. When the pain we live though is so difficult, we can't seem to rise above it.
But rather than give the reader pat answers or be condemning of those days (weeks, months, years), she offers hope. One quote that rang out to me was: 'The dark is what allows you to see." She'd talked about how the stars are so hard to see when you live in the city. You might see a few, but not anywhere near the number when you sit in the countryside without the city lights blinding your view. The dark allows you to see. And the darkness we experience often gives us a glimpse of God we'd not be aware of when life is fun and games. Not feeling much fun and games lately, so her gentle teaching of being aware of God's presence was very dear to me.
She tells of a time when the Lord came to her and she saw herself sitting across from him. Her concern at that time was about one of her children. She pulled her child from behind her back, placing her between her and the Lord. Repeatedly He must've moved the child back behind her, because she over and over brought her daughter forward. Finally, she got it. It, whatever it was, was between her and God, not her, her daughter and God. Just the two of them.
I think we often try to manipulate God, begging Him to see things from our perspective, shoving our needs in His face. He knows. He wants us to stop and let things go.
She writes: "This is about you and me. And the only light you need right now is the light you see. The light that shows you the steps toward me. If you let that be enough, your heart will be at ease. Your grip on control will slacken, and you will live in that bit of light, which is the right place for you to live right now. That small piece of light will enable you to be with your child in a nonanxious way and let me do my work. If you move out of that small piece of light, the darkness will be great. You must find a way to live here and to find your way back here when you move away."
A blessing for sure.
(i received this book free to review from Tyndale publishers)
