In order to truly evaluate your story, you need to stick with it to the end. Just think about the classic tales told in Disney movies. Many begin with tragedy but end with triumph. We cry with Simba, Bambi, Elsa, Cinderella, Ariel, Tarzan, and Mowgli as they lose a parent early in life … and (if you are like me) we sob when Mr. Fredricksen loses his dear wife Ellie during the opening credits. But we don’t think of “The Lion King,” “Frozen,” or “Up” as tragedies. Why? Because what began in the valley ends on the mountaintop.
In order to evaluate the story, sometimes you just need to let it go.
Let’s be honest … real life has plenty of moments when we are in the valley. Maybe you are in one right now, laid low by the grief of loss, an illness, a vocational setback, or a broken relationship. Or perhaps you find yourself crying tears of regret over sin you have committed that leaves you embarrassed, exposed, and feeling lost. When we are in one of these valleys, we may classify our personal story as a tragedy.
But what if your current valley was not the end of the story? What if the sun was getting ready to rise?
You may say, “Not my story. You don’t know the depth of this depression, the isolation of my situation, the sorrow of my regret. My story is not salvageable.”
But, what if …
What if there was One who could bring hope to the hopeless? What if there was One who could bring community to the isolated? What if there was One who could forgive our sin? What if there was One who could give life to the dead?
AND … what if that One who was ABLE to do all this was WILLING to do all this for you and for me? Well that would change everything, wouldn’t it?
This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church we will be in part 4 of our “Launch Day” sermon series looking at Luke 5:12-16 as we see Jesus bring cleansing and hope to someone in the deepest, darkest valley in the first century. Join us Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 service as we see Jesus able and willing to help the helpless, and what that means for you and for me.
See you Sunday … and bring friends!