I thank you
right now
for the light you will bring
though I sit in the dark
where I can’t see a thing
I thank you
right now
for the peace you’ll command
though I wait in a storm
that I can’t understand
I thank you
right now
for the gold you’ll refine
through the fire and heat
in my heart, in my mind
I thank you
right now
for the good that you’ll do
for your promise and presence
that carry me through
for this long night of mourning
will end with a dance
so I bring you my thanks
in advance
This week I’d like to share a few songs with you that I’ve been enjoying recently. These songs are diverse in musical style (I know musical tastes are different, so I won’t be offended if you don’t prefer them) yet all of them share the theme of trusting God. Trust is not always easy, especially when God’s ways and times are different than what we want or expect. These songs have encouraged me as I’ve waited for the Lord. Maybe they could encourage you, too.
Continue reading Songs Of TrustIf there was ever a doubt that God can take the evil of this world and turn it into good greater than we can imagine, that doubt was laid to rest when Jesus walked out of the tomb where he had been laid to rest. Humanity killed him for spite, and he died willingly—and rose again to save us. Now he promises that the troubles of his children who trust and follow him will also “work together for good” (Romans 8:28)—but of course that’s not how it feels in the moment when we face the unthinkable.
Unthinkable
Sometimes God allows
The unthinkable
Unbelievable
Thing
To happen
We’ve been working our way through Romans in our local Bible study group, and last week we talked about the part in chapter 8 where Paul writes this:
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”
As I’ve read the news this week, I have thought about these verses often. I feel it in my own heart: I am groaning inwardly. The whole world is groaning in pain. But the beauty of this passage is not in its realism, although the realism is important. We dare not downplay the pain. It is too real, too horrible, too heavy. In a global moment like this, we simply cannot ignore the brokenness of our world, or pretend that everything is fine. It’s not fine. At all. And yet, we see in these verses that although reality includes pain and groaning right now, reality is more than those things—there is a hope that is just as real—even more so. That’s what I tried to capture in this poem:
Continue reading We Cry Out
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