This March is another anniversary of when I faced encephalitis, beginning my adventure with brain damage and epilepsy. So much changed quickly and painfully. But God has been so good through the storms.
In Underwater, one of the books I’ve written about my story, I included a quote from Leonard Sweet. I saw Len again recently at an event hosted by Emmanuel College. Many of his comments connected with my life, my brain, our future as a culture. I felt challenged. I also felt encouraged.
Here is Sweet’s quote I used in Underwater:
“Crisis doesn’t make a person. It reveals you for what you are. You don’t know who someone is until adversity comes. It shows the cracks, and the cracks are where God leaks through.” (Leonard Sweet, Summoned to Lead, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004, 96)
As I remember the reasons for my struggle to remember, I choose to also remember his statement.
Crisis and adversity: not our two favorite words. But our world currently feels flooded with those. Externally and internally. Locally and globally. Emotionally and relationally. Politically and financially.
When those words visit, it helps me to pay attention to this phrase: “cracks are where God leaks through.”
Think about it. How have you personally been affected by crisis and adversity? How have you responded to those cracks? What have those experiences revealed about who you are? How can God’s cracks leak through?
Take time to remember and reflect, seeking to answer the questions. The process helps me in my underwater adventure. I hope it will help you.
Notice the cracks. Deal with them rather than denying them. But don’t end there. Let God leak through.
