Rock Bottom. Isn’t it funny that we have to get here to begin again? When people talk about rock bottom, it carries a connotation of failure. But I feel the beauty in it.

There was a season for me, as I’m sure for many of you, where I fell to me knees at rock bottom. I remember thinking, “there’s no place to look now but up”. In fact, that became my posture. Knees to the ground, face to the heavens, tears streaming down… crying out, “Take it. Please, just take it.” I wasn’t eloquent or even polite in my request. It was more like a sob. I was broken and defeated and more than anything, I was just tired. I was SO tired of trying to make life work in my own strength.

Isn’t it just like God to be so poetic? We have to reach our rock bottom so we are ready to receive His help. He’s been there all along, but it’s like we HAVE to try life on our own before we recognize the weakness of our own humanity. And like the patient Father that He is, He waits. He waits until we have tried every other avenue the world could offer. He waits until we have exhausted every resource. And finally, He waits until we are broken enough to surrender our lives back to the One who gave it. And this is the place we begin again.

Building foundation on the rock we cry to.

The truth is, many of us have had to sit in our weakness before we’re ready to cry out to God. And the thing is, I think He loves to meet us here. At the end of ourselves. Surrendered. We call it rock bottom, but the moment we ask God to meet us there, He begins clearing the rubble. He uses that moment and that brokenness as His starting point. As we cling to Him, He begins building up His love and truth within us. Foundation.

You know I love to talk about the beauty in the brokenness. After all, isn’t that the power of the unexpected? We don’t ask for these moments or even want them…but God works all things to the good! He displays His mercy and Grace through our broken bits. Throughout this podcast I hope you’ll pick up on this theme. It is the place we meet so many characters in the Bible. We will see our stories in their lives. And much like them, we will also have the opportunity to honor God in our weakest seasons.

Today, I want to encourage you. If you have been in a rock bottom season, I hope you’ll look for God’s blessing through it. I hope you’ll see how it created a beautiful dependence on Him. And if you are currently in that place right now, just know it’s okay to hit your knees and look up. I hope you will. And I hope you’ll allow God to establish your foundation on Him because of the pain. Because of the failure. Because of the shame. Because of the weariness. He’s waiting for you. He always has been.

To all those listening, I pray you’ll see God in the unexpected. I pray you’ll look back and see how He was working in every unexpected moment and will continue to work through those ahead. If you choose to do this, you’ll be amazed at what you discover. You WILL see Him when you search for Him. And your perspective will never be the same again. You’ll start seeing God’s hand in every place you thought He was absent. You’ll see life moments turn into strands on a tapestry. Woven together into a pattern much bigger than you. You’ll see how your threads intertwine with lives around the world. Forming God’s greatest masterpiece. Starting with the unexpected.

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