When the forgiven learn to forgive,
When the poor give everything away,
When the broken learn to mend,
That’s when Jesus has his way.
When the striving let go,
When the conflicted surrender,
When we befriend our foes,
Then our hearts become tender.
When all seems to be defeat,
When expectations don’t meet,
When sorrows grow, with tales of woe,
Then our victory is near.
When your candle’s barely burning,
When your breath is just a sigh,
Step out into the darkness —
Lift your prayer to God on high.
Remember how He loves you
Amidst your fear and sin;
Remember how He died for you
And did the victory win.
He’ll carry you in darkness,
He’ll comfort you in grief.
He’ll give you all you ever need
If you’ll just trust in Him.
And if you don’t feel trusting,
If doubt and fear creep in,
Just let it go, give Him control,
Just give it all to Him.
Your tears will water God’s garden,
Your sorrows make God’s house strong,
Your joys light up the heavens,
Your triumphs give glory to God.
Every sin cleansed becomes virtue,
Every wound is made less,
Every weakness now strengthened,
Every failure, success.
Death becomes life now,
Illness — good health,
Ugliness, now beauty,
And poverty, wealth.
Fear not in the darkness,
It will soon be dispersed,
And His glorious victory
In your life be expressed.
Broken today
By my own sin.
Tears of sorrow
Fall like the rain.
Only Your love
Will bring a new day.
So weak without You;
Why do I doubt You?
Wandering eyes
Start looking at lies.
Inadequate soul —
Why my surprise?
Why all the violence?
Lacking godly reliance.
Too driven by lust —
In God we must trust.
We all have our fears —
To Him let’s draw near.
Feel so insecure,
But Your love is sure.
Yes, I am weak,
But Your strength I will seek.
Though sometimes depressed,
By You I am blessed.
You’ve won the war,
The strife for my soul.
Now I allow
Your grace to endow
Your new life in me —
And thus victory.
Many tears I’ve often cried,
Some sorrows lived and more just seen.
Heard of many tragedies —
Heartbreaks, pain and misery.
But never mind,
I still must sing
‘Cause otherwise the pain would crush,
And anyway I have a King
Who has a deeply healing touch.
Illness, sickness, death and doom,
Madness, jealousies and gloom,
Accidents not meant to be;
Misunderstandings — let them be.
But anyway,
I still must sing,
‘Cause otherwise the load’s too great,
And anyway I have a King
Who in the end will sadness take.
Don’t even know the reason why
Such sorrow seems to seize my soul.
Another’s pain can often rend
My heart — and then —
It takes a while for it to mend.
And still,
I will keep on the song,
‘Cause otherwise I’d die of pain,
And anyway I have a King
Who in the end will vict’ry gain.
So sing with joy,
Let sorrow flee;
The King will have the victory.
October 21, 2012
God Is Going to Win!
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.
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