The Shadow Proves the Sunshine

Some of you may have heard this song before, especially if you're Switchfoot fans. I am. This song is off of their Nothing is Sound CD which came out near the end of last year. I have had it loaded on the ol' iPod for a while and I love listening to the CD itself. But the other day I was listening to this song a little closer than I have in the past. Can't tell you why, just was.

I love the title The Shadow Proves the Sunshine. What do you think when you read these words? Stop for just a moment and ponder the profundity (really big word for the profound/depth) of this statement. . .(Jeapordy music softly playing in the background) . . .Ok, so what did you come up with? Email me, I'd like to know.

Here's what hit me when I allowed the brain cell-lacking cerebrum of mine to ponder these words:

Valley experiencers, like myself, often feel like we are in the dark - the darkness of our spiritual journey. But I have come to realize one thing - if I'm in Christ, then I'm in the light. And if I'm in the light then I can't be in the darkness. Because darkness is the absence of light. Darkness does not overcome light.

So what do we experience when things seem dark, if in fact it's not darkness that we encounter? That's a great question. Let me see if I can shed some light on the matter (yes, pun intended - it's Monday morning so cut me some slack - only two cups of coffee so far).

When I first began this blog it was called Can't See Daylight - hence the URL (web address). I called it that because I was in a period of my life that I just couldn't see any "daylight" because of all the stuff I was going through - church stuff, ministry, Karen's situation, etc. Later I changed the name to In the Midst of the Valley because of the metaphor of a valley experience and some other stuff. Click on the link to find out more.

ANYWAY. . .all that to say that I never denied the presence of the light, I just couldn't see it. The light was always there - just beyond the shadows. You see, something got in the way of the light - circumstances, relationships, pain, suffering, loss. . .LIFE! Life got in the way of the light. Darkness didn't disspell the light it simply got in the way.

It's the same way shadows are created. An object gets in the way of the light and creates the shadow. It is because of the shadow that we know the light exists. Think about that for a moment. . .Can you have shadows in the dark? I think not. No way. Nope. Nadda. Can't happen. Soooo, the only way we can have shadows is in the light. Therefore, we know the light is still there, always has been, always will be.

And if you walk in the light - the light of Christ - you may, for a moment, walk in the shadows - stuff may get in the way of the light. Stuff like LIFE. But thank God for the shadows of life. It's the shadows that prove the light exists!

Yea God!



Mike