Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
The life of Bart Millard of the band MercyMe played out in the 2018 film I Can Only Imagine. In the movie Bart’s home was filled with abuse from his father. His mother seemingly abandoned her children, leaving them behind in the unhealthy environment. The very people Bart and his brother should have had the utmost trust and love from, had nurtured a childhood of pain, fear, abandonment, and shame. Years later, Bart’s memoir shares the details behind his childhood pain. As with so many tragic events in people’s lives, there is always more to the story.
With some exception, hurt comes from a place of hurt. We do not always know the details behind the suffering, but even if we did, I wonder if it would make it any easier. In his memoir Bart says “The storms of life make you either better or bitter.” We have a choice in where we take our storm. On our own we will take it with us for a lifetime. We do not have the power to overcome it, but God does. God’s dream for you is “to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). When we allow God to help us overcome our obstacles, we gain the ability, with His strength, to forgive, heal, and have hope. In time you may even find your “greatest effectiveness in the world will be in the place of your deepest wounds” (Chris Tiegreen).
