Glimpses of your glory,
Shadows of your grace.
When I hear the story –
How You saved the human race.
Just around the corner,
A ray of light does shine.
Can’t seem to wholly grasp it –
Just like a butterfly.
Out of my eye’s corner,
Just around the bend,
A blinding light is shining;
I cannot comprehend.
To be human
Is to love – and lose.
Then my response
I need to choose.
To be human
Is to hurt – and cry.
Perhaps anger will
My hurt belie.
And then my anger
Might energy give
To right the wrong,
To help me live.
To be human
Is to have deep needs.
I might deny them,
But they’re the seeds …
To bring salvation
If I’ll confess
How needy I am –
That my heart is a mess.
But if my love
Is real and true
Will it be spurned?
I don’t have a clue.
And if my “love”
Has selfish roots,
I’m back to square one –
Truer love to pursue.
But I’m always learning,
Ever learning.
And for God’s truth —
Forever yearning.
I beheld Your beauty
In the morning dawn,
In dewdrops that were glistening,
In does and little fawns.
I beheld Your beauty
In sunbursts from the clouds,
In rainbows and in lightning,
In rushing rivers loud.
I beheld Your beauty
In little children’s smiles,
In wrinkled faces, in fond embraces;
By love I was beguiled.
I beheld Your beauty
In ugliness disguised,
Beneath the skin, and deep within,
Your beauty there would hide.
I beheld Your beauty,
And cannot comprehend
Your love so great, to contemplate —
Your love will never end.
What is the beauty within you?
That God-made, deep inside,
Don’t-need-to-hide beauty?
What are your dreams and schemes,
The bright sunbeams,
The things that keep you going?
Has life beat you up?
Do you want to give up?
Can you try to look up?
Feel ugly inside?
Are you trying to hide?
Will you give God a chance?
Will you let Him romance
Your soul?
He wants to enfold you,
He’s not trying to scold you,
He’s waiting right now for you.
Just open the door,
Come in from the cold,
So your heart can behold
The One who adores you,
His heart broken for you,
He died on the cross for you.
I looked around
For many years.
I laughed a lot,
Cried many tears.
The loneliness
I could not fathom.
My heart so cold,
An endless chasm.
God’s beauty came
To rescue me.
I cried for joy;
He set me free.
An aching heart,
It comes and goes.
Love’s happiness
Brings many woes.
My love, it hurts,
Brings many tears.
Yet perfect love
Casts out all fear.
Lord, when the feelings end,
And things are still the same,
It takes some faith
For feelings great,
To love without pretense.
When things seem all awry,
When it’s so hard to try,
Must just express
Some bitterness,
And then let bitterness die.
Who did I think you were
That you should meet all needs?
You’re just a person
Whom I conversed with —
Not God, to Whom I plead.
If your heart is broken,
Be glad you have a heart.
If you’re crying,
Be glad that you loved enough to be hurt.
If the world seems to pass you by,
If you feel alone,
God is with you.
God doesn’t care about
the size of my bank account,
the size of my waist,
how many diplomas I have on my wall,
or how many cars I have in my driveway.
What He cares about
is the size of my heart
and how much I love Him.
And if I love Him,
I do my best to obey Him.
“If you love Me, you will
keep my commandments.”
(John 14:15)
One day I went to church, soon after the Paris terrorist attacks in November, 2015. The priest talked about the fact that many boys are kidnapped or forced into terrorist training, as young as age six. They are taught violence and how to cause destruction. They may be threatened with death if they don’t cooperate. They don’t know any other life. I don’t know if the priest implied it, or I thought it myself – “How can they not be terrorists? They don’t anything else.” The priest also offered heartfelt prayers for violence to end, for our safety, and for God to touch the terrorists.
So, I’m driving home after this, and God knows what unconscious process unfolded in me, but suddenly I kept thinking, “God is going to win! Love is going to win! Love is stronger than all the violence, hate, and destruction.” This kept going through my mind for perhaps the rest of the day, and beyond.
I feel so sure that God, who is Love, will win in the end.
“For everyone has sinned …”
Once I was watching a documentary about the Nuremberg Trials (in which prominent Nazis were on trial for World War II war crimes). A Jewish man who was present related how he suddenly fainted during the testimony of one of the accused. When asked why he fainted, he said, “Suddenly I realized that I, too, was capable of the same horrible actions.”
We ALL need forgiveness. We cannot do any good without God’s help.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23)
Category:
Commentary
Tagged with: