I like it, but I don’t like it.

I wish I could say that I learned from all the blessings God gave me, that I grew from all the euphoric mountaintop spiritual experiences I’ve ever had, that naps were God’s way of maturing me. Unfortunately, that’s not how most of us grow up in grace and faith.

Mostly, God teaches us through trials. C. S. Lewis said that pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world (and sometimes to get the attention of a hard of hearing me). As much as I dislike suffering, it seems to be the only way I learn to rely and depend on God and not myself.

The upside is that there’s not a negative experience or season that stays negative. Eventually, you start to see the lessons and benefits. You can see where God worked even those bad times for good, strengthened your faith, and gave you a ministry for those who are currently in their dark valleys.

In photography, the darker the negatives, the better the photo. If the negative is mostly grey, then there won’t be a lot of contrast. The picture will be meh. But those darker tones turn to light when you process the negative and develop the photograph. It’s such an apt descriptor of the life of faith.

The dark turns to light when God’s finished with the process of developing us.