About Emily Ellis

Ever since my first "dark night of the soul," I've been drawn to books, songs, and stories about suffering: why we suffer, how we suffer, and God's purpose in our suffering. People who know me would probably look at my life and say I've lived a charmed one, and I have in a lot of ways. I was raised in a Christian home, I've never known lack, I got to study theology and go to seminary, and I have my dream job (I'm the team leader for adult ministry magazines and devotionals at LifeWay, and the content editor for Journey Devotional, and I LOVE it!).

But one thing I've come to learn in my short 32 years on this earth is that, eventually, suffering touches us all, and our response to suffering really can direct the course of our life. I've suffered small things (those "little deaths" and "blessed inconveniences" as Elisabeth Elliot calls them), but I've also suffered bigger things, things that left me looking up to the heavens and crying with David, "Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever?" (Ps. 13:1). I also suffer certain things daily that no one knows about but the Lord - anxieties, fears, pressures. And you probably do, too.

"Midnight" has come to me more than once, and I've struggled in those times to believe that God is who He says He is. Who hasn't, honestly? But, over and over, God has proven Himself faithful. And He's also opened my eyes to the incredible mystery of how, in my own suffering, I'm sharing in the suffering of Christ, and that's a gift and a privilege. "For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him" (Phil. 1:29, emphasis added). This principle has changed everything for me. 

You'll be happy to know that not everything on my blog has to do with suffering, because in God's upside-down kingdom, life comes out of death, joy comes out of suffering, and daylight comes after midnight! So the life and the death, the joy and the suffering, the daylight and the midnight are all here. I hope you find something that speaks to you exactly where you are today.

And please reach out to me with any questions or comments. I'd love to hear from you! You can also subscribe to Believing at Midnight below.