I
When all the darkness of a world gone mad with "me" and "mine"
presses against your heart with its dark futility,
watch the world and see what happens
when self becomes the measure of the truth,
no one way better or worse than another,
with no standard to give it value.
Relativism – a place with no verities.
What type of world is it
when millions of selves become the arbiters of what is right,
of what is holy,
what is worth believing,
each competing,
the child molester no less worthy of admiration
than the hero who rescues the dying,
where killing the sick and old seeming as good a deed as healing,
and children seem a futility of expense.
Listen to that cacophony of competing voices
drowning out a truth they do not want to face,
the fact that without family,
there is an empty hole in life,
where self-loathing shadows over the death of hope,
the fact that chasing sex and intoxication
will never sustain,
that things break,
heros fail,
that isms are imperfect answers for that hole in their lives,
and that no matter how they veil the reality,
their choices are leading them to a nightmare world,
where they try to make shifting desires the center of all,
turning the old granite of truth into quicksand,
unable to sustain a purposeless life.
Listen, and ask yourself,
have we not created the tower of Babel anew,
confusing our hearts, our spirits, our future
in our hubris to say Man, and not God is the center?
Where then, is the firm land
that will let you stand while the chaos grows,
as the center cannot hold,
and things fall apart?
The answer was given to you in the life of a single person
sent here with one purpose,
to bring you home.
Even now, he calls through the bitter waters of modern life,
and offers that transformation
that creates a sanctuary against the storm.
Look upon his cross,
his tomb,
his resurrection and know
one greater than any man
has touched the world,
leaving a cross-shaped beacon pointing the way
to the place where heaven and earth come crashing together,
an island of meaning against the midnight,
bought with blood,
sustained by love.
Laugh at him as old fashioned as you cry against the dark,
or listen to what he has to say,
and find the purpose you were missing.
II
Lord,
You offer so many graces to us,
your poor benighted children here on Earth,
graces that fall to the ground too often unwanted, ignored, unseen.
How often we turn to run to the dark when you offer us
that purifying light that will heal the aching in our hearts
as if it were some bitter tonic
instead of the Living Water,
perfect tonic for all that ails us.
Forgive us, Lord,
for the ingratitude of our wayward hearts,
for the cold determination to do what we want,
no matter what the cost.
Soften our hearts, O Lord, and open our eyes,
scaled over by sin and and willfullness and lack of trust,
until we see you standing there,
waiting patiently with outstretched hands,
ready to transform us step by step,
grace by grace
until you have made us into the child of light
you would have us be.
III
You gave me a dream one day, O Lord,
of midnight on a storming sea,
Hurricane winds blowing free,
washing up on an unprepared shore.
I watched as the waters swirled and rose,
huge swells washing all away
there in the darkness far from day,
The works of hands shattered in the water flows.
I watched how puny are the works we prize
The works of hands and sweat and dreams
Falling there beneath the streams
Nothing of man stopped the water's rise.
And yet, there on the water's face
Bobbing lightly as the waves moved on,
Survivors surfacing towards the dawn
Rafts and boats and planks and boards in place.
Even though wind tossed, and frightened there
even though battered in the night
they escaped into the light,
By the hand of loving care.
"My mercy," said the Lord to me
"I gave them refuge in my heart,
As the darkness took their world apart
Because they put their trust in me.
.
"Take care to understand and know
When darkness seems too dark to see
That I will hold you close to me
In darkest night, when storm winds blow
"If you will give your heart to me
To keep within my heart of love
You will always float above
The darkness of that midnight sea.
"Cling to my mercy now, this day,
The storm clouds gather, the darkness grows,
The seas are rising, the dark wind blows,
Come into my heart or wash away."
BTTT
"leaving a cross-shaped beacon pointing the way "
Come to the Cross.
Amen.
Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
[originally, For such a worm as I?]
Refrain
At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
And the burden of my heart rolled away,
It was there by faith I received my sight,
And now I am happy all the day!
Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine—
And bathed in its own blood—
While the firm mark of wrath divine,
His Soul in anguish stood.
Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.
--Isaac Watts 1707
Good morning. What a wonderful place to find refuge in the times of storm. KAC, thank you and others here, for so faithfully sharing the Word Of God , Poems and Prayers.
I have both a Praise and a Prayer request.......
First a PRAISE...
For the past 2 years, our daughter has been estranged from us. Her son, our grandson was removed from her. We have been caring for him. We have been dilengently bringing her before the Lord in Prayer. She had another baby in January. Yesterday I answered our door to find her on our doorstep with our newest granddaughter. The tears would not stop flowing as I held our sweet bundle for the first time. I was able to tell dd that we love her, pray for her, and want healing in our relationship. The Courts are about to remove permanent custody of the grandson that we are raising, from her. We are praying only for the perfect WILL of GOD...I can tell you that I don't know what that is to be in this case, but only that I see the work of God's Hand in bringing her home for a visit after a year of not coming home.
Two prayer requests now. The court is in two weeks. Please pray that God's PERFECT WILL be done in our grandsons' case. We ask for wisdom in what we say and do.
Second, my nieces' daughter and hubby are expecting a baby. She has not been able to carry a baby to term. She has miscarried twice. She is 27 weeks and just found out that her baby has no kidneys and a enlarged heart. The doctor says the baby will die as soon as it is born. I have been compelled to pray for what would humanly seem impossible. The creation of two perfect kidneys.God can breathe and create.......He is the same God now as He was when the foundations of the earth were formed. If it is in HIS PERFECT WILL, I am asking for two nice kidneys for baby Jaydon. What a witness to the power of God that would be to doctors', friends that need Jesus in their lives, and the family. Even so Lord Jesus, not our will but THINE be DONE.
Under His Wings,
Polly