My story unfolds itself into a comfortable couch.
Here I lie, feet up and reclined, listening
To the relaxed rumble of coherence turning
Chaos into logic, making sense out of nonsense.
Peace by pieces is settling inside me
Filling my soul with reminders of His goodness.

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

Hope brings new light to blind belief
Till all the darkness vanishes and
Clarity of purpose stiffens resolve.
But… One must be willing
To walk through death’s door,
To step from the finite into the infinite…

More absences
More additions
It’s all so confusing sometimes
Sapping my strength with cold
While the warmth barely suffices
But I keep moving
Just to stay alive

All the bare trees
All the winter blossoms
I’m torn between death and life
But bareness will blossom again
Winter flowers fade to spring colors
So I keep looking
Present life, future beauty

Somehow I praise
Somehow I worship
I’m mindful of Creator’s will
Relying on His strength in me
When I have nothing left inside
Still I keep trusting
Faithfully hoping in Love

Your voice speaking softly,
You whisper my name-
Calling me closer, wooing my will,
Lord, help me to focus again.

I read the part where Nebuchadnezzar ordered them thrown in to a furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. The guys who threw them in died from the heat, but there go our three guys into the flames and then they started walking around with the fourth man who just suddenly showed up. Nebuchadnezzar is so astonished at seeing a fourth person (who, by the way, looks like the Son of God) that he double-checks what he’s seeing with the other spectators, THEN he walks right up to the furnace, where he should have been killed like all the other men, and hollers in at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come out.

Right about this point, John stopped my reading and exclaimed, “You mean, those guys didn’t try to run OUT of the fire? They were just walking around in there until Nebuchadnezzar called them?” This gave me a whole new perspective. I responded, “Better to be IN the fire with the Lord, then out of the fire without Him,” and I had to stop and think about what I said.

So, the three men just hung out together in the flames and the fire with the Lord, then when Nebuchadnezzar calls them out (putting his own life in danger to do so), they saunter out… no sweat, no smell of fire or smoke, not one hair or item of clothing singed. No wonder the king is floored!!

So when I’m in the fire, as I truly seem to be right now, I don’t need to be in a rush to get out. As long as I’m trusting and hanging out with the Lord, as long as He wants us to be together in here, I won’t get any part of me singed or smelly from the furnace of trial. When God says it’s time to come out, then it’ll be time to come out and I don’t have to worry about the heat in the meantime.

I’ll be chewing on this one for a while, but I thought I’d toss it out there for some other people to ruminate on as well.

Life can be really difficult sometimes… and unfair…
And just generally unbearable in moments of crisis!
It has been so for me at least,
Not only on a personal level,
But for close friends and family as well.
I rail at what most people call fate, thinking,
“What did we do to deserve this???”
The answer of course is “nothing”.
The perversities and hardships come crashing in.
Everything falls all in a heap about our ears,
Heedless of tears and prayers and pleas for mercy.
Push the right button on each of us and we blow up.
Life blows up… KABOOM!
We end up making do with what we’re handed out
Or sometimes starting from scratch all over again.
The thing is that
Everybody has issues, stresses, problems,
Crises on various levels.
If you start talking about who deserves what,
Well, then, I mean, REALLY,
Who doesn’t deserve problems?
We’ve all done things wrong.
Nobody’s perfect.
We all make mistakes and bad choices.
Sometimes those have direct consequences.
Sometimes they have indirect consequences.
And (sigh) sometimes things just happen.

You run over a nail in the road and your tire blows out.
The nail was just there.
No one put it there on purpose.
You couldn’t see it and so couldn’t avoid it.
Now, you have to stop traveling
(Towards whatever goal you can name),
Get out, and fix the problem.
That, my friends, is where we really face the fire.
Are we bitter? Do we resent having to stop and deal?
Will we just keep going and avoid the issue?
Will we lose our temper, expending needed energy?
Or can we take our lump,
Focus our intellect and strength on changing the tire
(i.e. dealing with the problem), and
Thank the Father above, for a moment,
For the mercies we have on other days.
You know-
The days when the road is clear,
Our tanks and our bellies are full, or at least, not empty,
The weather is fine, and we can continue,
Unimpeded, on our journey.

So, life is difficult and unfair and sometimes unbearable,
But we’re breathing, aren’t we?
Every moment we breathe is a reminder
That our life is sustained by mercy and grace alone.
We can accept the mercy, stand on the grace, and
Extend that same mercy and grace to others.
Or waste our lives throwing tantrums-
Instead of moving forward with each new day.
The earth spins on its axis and
Lets us see the daylight dawning
With a brand new perspective.
God didn’t promise to deliver us from fire and water,
But He did promise to walk through it with us.
It’s been awesome realizing I’m not alone… ever.
By His Word, I am sustained.
By His Spirit, I am comforted.
By His Blood, I am forgiven and able to start afresh.
I dare you to try trusting Him if you haven’t.
You’ll be surprised at how much difference it makes!

I go along and write a verse or poem here and there
And put one out for people now and then,
But I have written less and wondered if my readers care.
The silence on this matter doesn’t end.

It’s sad to think that if I stopped and kept it all within,
That few or none would ever say a word.
I didn’t even realize it was bugging me again
Till one friend wrote and told me I was heard.

Now this is silly and I know I need to let it go,
Still, I’m a normal human and I hate
To learn I’ve let such feelings overflow.
I’ve let my sadness squelch how I create.

So someone speak out, talk to me, pick up the phone and call…
Should I stop with what I’ve already done?
Does what I write mean anything to anyone at all?
Or am I simply writing for just one?

I’m sure that I will keep on putting words down on a page,
But share it? That, my friends, is what remains.
There’s so much on the internet to read this day and age.
Perhaps I’m done here. Nothing’s wrong with change.

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