TREASURES IN DARKNESS

Did you know that God sometimes gives us “treasures of darkness” and reveals the “hidden wealth of secret places”? It’s an intriguing promise, isn’t it? And it is perhaps especially true when we choose to enter the dark places of the past. Abraham Lincoln’s life offers a beautiful illustration of this. 

Lincoln struggled with serious depression from a very young age. In his twenties, neighbors sometimes took him into their homes for a week or two at a time to watch over him lest he take his own life. In his twenties and thirties, he had three breakdowns. As a country lawyer with only one year of formal schooling, Lincoln had a history of defeats in running for public office.

When he was eventually elected president, he was considered a country bumpkin and a disgrace. In the early years of his presidency, Lincoln’s failures and setbacks were a source of vicious public ridicule. In his book Lincoln’s Melancholy, author Joshua Wolf Shenk describes how Lincoln was able to integrate his melancholy and his failures into a larger purpose. Shenk argues that it was, in fact, Lincoln’s suffering and weaknesses that later fueled his greatness and propelled his personal transformation.

Whatever Lincoln’s shadow, it is clear that his willingness to acknowledge and integrate all of himself is what enabled him to serve and lead a nation in great danger of falling apart. As a result, he is considered by many to be America’s greatest president.

You and I may not be like Abraham Lincoln or be forced to face his challenges, but we can still follow in his footsteps by choosing to embrace the totality of who we are. We can look for treasures in our past areas of darkness. If we are willing to trust him, God can use even our weaknesses and hardships to reveal himself to us.