Hitting rock bottom is hardly a place where one can expect to find blessings, but in the economy of God rock bottom can often be a place where both the Christian and non-Christian can find untold blessings. Let me explain.
Pastor Tony Evans used the following play on words to give us the key to helping us understand why the place of rock bottom can be the place where amazing blessings take place. According to Pastor Evans: “Sometimes God lets you hit rock bottom so that you will discover He is the Rock at the bottom.”1
Blessings for the believer
Even as Christians sometimes our world gets rocked. For example, if you lose a spouse to cancer, get laid off from work, or are betrayed by a close friend, our world often can spin out of control. But can we find a blessing in a total life mess?
As a Christian I have learned that when I am going through severe trials and my emotions are at their lowest point that God is still in control of my life. And when I turn my trial and sorrows over to Him, He will provide me with peace and use my situation to show me things that I could never have learned in any other way. For example, when I was going through an 18-month period of severe clinical depression almost 20 years ago, I never doubted that God had a purpose in this and that He would see me through. When He did finally deliver me from my depression, through the right medications, He changed my career course from banking to counseling the homeless at the Bowery Mission in New York City. And through this second career I was able to counsel and relate to many men who also struggled with depression. I believe that if it wasn’t for my depression I would never have left my banking career and been used so wonderfully to help many people struggling with depression.
Through my low points in life, I have learned to trust God more, realize He has a purpose in my dark moments, be used to help others going through similar situations, and most importantly allow God to use me to be a blessing to others and to make my life’s mission to glorify God through both the good and bad times.
Blessings for the non-believer and backslider
As a Christian one of my biggest blessings is the time I spend each day praying for the people on my prayer list. And one person I have been praying daily for over 18 months is a young man named Cody. Cody is the son of a friend of mine who I met from my website. I am not certain if he is a believer or is severely backslidden. Suffice it to say he is far away from serving the Lord. Well, my prayer for Cody every day is that he would hit rock bottom and realize that his lifestyle is a disaster and until he turns his life over to Jesus he will never find peace, joy, and meaning. Simply put my prayer for Cody echoes Pastor Evans’ quote at the beginning of this devotion: “Sometimes God lets you hit rock bottom so that you will discover He is the Rock at the bottom.” My friends, there is no doubt in my mind that God is going to touch Cody’s heart. I just leave the timing up to Him.
For the non-believer and backslider, sometimes the only place they can come to Jesus is when they are flat on their back looking up. Abraham Lincoln said it well: “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say that there is no God.”2
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY TONY EVANS (of 93) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
2 Charlie H. Campbell, Apologetics Quotes (Carlsbad, California: The Always Be Ready Apologetics Ministry, 2020), p. 9.