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By Shawn Smith
Gratitude and grief don’t naturally mesh, but MercyMe’s frontman Bart Millard learned after the diagnosis of his son Sam’s illness that you need gratitude to cope with grief.
“I’m sure all parents, but especially for dads, it’s like, it happened on my watch. I take the blame, you know, you wish you could trade places,” Millard revealed on the “Unashamed” podcast.
“I just got to point…I have to rely on Him. I’m not going to survive this. And, you know, and [it’s] God is good all the time and not God is good when XYZ, whatever happens…‘You’re good in this and You have a different view than I do,” the father of five continued.
That theme runs throughout I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2, which continues the story following MercyMe’s success and Millard’s struggles balancing his career and family after his son is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
“And that’s kind of what the movie talks about is learning how to hold grief and gratitude at the same time. Because life happens regardless,” the “Word of God Speak” singer said.
“We think that we have seasons of highs and we’re grateful and then seasons of lows,” Millard added. “I wish it was that easy, like the stock market, but no, the grief and gratitude have to exist together.”
Millard shared that he thought a story about a family dealing with juvenile diabetes might be an “underwhelming” conflict to play on the screen, but since the movie’s release, he was surprised to see parents with similar struggles.
He shared one story of a mother who had a son with a cleft palate and approached Millard after seeing the movie.
“She was like, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing for the world.’ And she goes, ‘But this voice in my head tells me, “It could be worse, so don’t speak up. Don’t complain.”’ And all of a sudden, they’re isolated,” the Texas native recalled. “And she goes, ‘I long for a moment like where I’m slipping off into my closet and screaming…’This genuinely stinks, God, but You still remain good.’”
The 53-year-old addressed how harmful isolation can be and the importance of having people around to share in their trials.
“The worst thing that can happen to you is isolation,” Millard said in on the 100 Huntley Street show. “The enemy will try to isolate you and convince you’re the only one, no one can understand this, but the second we start saying these things out loud and sharing with other people and doing life with other people, that’s when healing begins, and it takes some of the weight off your shoulders.”
Another theme prevalent in IMAGINE 2 is finding peace whether or not healing comes, which gives birth to the song “Even If,” as portrayed in the movie.
Millard recalled an especially touching prayer the late evangelist Billy Graham prayed over Sam while he was in the hospital.
“I’ll never forget it. He prayed, ‘God, we know you can heal him, but, but if that’s not your plan, then let Sam just change the world as a diabetic’” he recalled.
It was one of the “even if’ moments that inspired the song, along with co-writer Tim Timmons’ terminal cancer diagnosis.
Part of the lyrics to “Even If” read:
But God, when You choose
To leave mountains unmovable
Oh give me the strength to be able to sing
It is well with my soul
I know You’re able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don’t
My hope is You alone
Millard’s story is a powerful testament of prayer and faith in times of trial. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2 is in theaters now.
Read Next: I CAN ONLY IMAGINE 2 Cast Reveals Movie’s Inspiring Message: You’re ‘Not Alone’
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