The Shadow Proves the Sunshine

♪We are crooked souls trying to stay up straight, dry eyes in the pouring rain. Well, the shadow proves the sunshine.  Two scared little runaways hold fast til the break of day light were the shadow proves the sunshine♫ -Switchfoot " The Shadow Proves the Sunshine"

I love this song. Plain and simple, it is a great song.  I see two particular sides of this song. First of all, after deciding I was going to write a blog post on this song, I was informed by a Switchfoot connoisseur that this song was written by Jon Foreman after travelling to Africa.  Having been to Africa myself, it struck a chord with me. In America, we are so blessed. Yes, we have to deal with $3.50 gas prices and crazy taxes, but those are the extent of a lot of American's worries. We have abundance, if you are reading this...you have abundance in simply the fact that you have a computer.  We see our "shadows" and fail to realize that to others would consider our problems blessings in comparison to their problems. I read a quote one time that said "If we all threw our troubles in a pile, we'd see everyone else's, then grab ours back." We have trouble understanding that some of the biggest troubles in our lives are but minor in comparison to what other people are dealing with.

Secondly, this song addresses that without hardships in life, we would never have any comparison to know that the joyful and good parts of life are, in fact, joyful and good.  Often we cannot see the fact that we live in the "sunshine" until we have seen the shadows. This is a message of hope in a world that can only seem to focus on desperation. Having bad times proves that there is in fact a bright side to the situation; going through trials and tribulations and then coming out of them a stronger and wiser person proves that there is in fact a purpose for our sufferings. It proves that we are not living a life with no hope in sight, but rather that we have a purpose and a goal.  Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."  Whether this was the main meaning meant to be conveyed by this song or not, this is what I get out of it...that we are striving for a goal and, although it will not always be easy, God will prevail in the end if we persevere.

I challenge you to be thankful for the things you have and to thank God specifically for the dark parts of your life because it is in the darkest of times that His glory shines brightest.