A Focused Love
February 13, 2015
*
Each day brings trouble
Tragedy is around us
Suffering overwhelms us
Where can we find peace
*
My soul languishes
Fear and anxiety rule
Where can I find rest
*
I stand amazed when love comes
Light springs up in the darkness
Hope born in desperation
Our God hears our cry
*
Looking back I see
When I trusted God He came
Lifted the burden
Opened my eyes to see love
My greatest work is “Believe”
*
I’ll hope against hope
I’ve been given a reason
I’ll focus and understand
God became a man
Human in every way
He chose to suffer the pain
*
A personal gift
An intimate love given
Each person is known
Beloved, seen, heard and treasured
This is the heart of God known
*
Death cannot destroy
Joy sits above circumstance
The presence of love
In the life of everyone
Can be seen by looking back
*
Open our eyes, Lord
To see things that matter
Let gentleness rule
The way that we treat ourselves
And the way we treat others
*
Your unfailing love
Was demonstrated so well
In the life of your Son
*
No matter what the trouble I may face each day, I get to choose who sits at the center of my soul. With all the noise of the human tragedy around me my heart is drawn to one voice. It is the voice of love I will focus on today. That love is bigger than my circumstance. It is bigger than death. That love is worth dying for. That love will enhance every person I meet today. This love guarantees permanent, constant and continual growth. It is testable! I could be right! These reflections come out of meditating on the Psalms. All the best!
Relief or Healing
January 16, 2015
*
Where are you God in my pain
I can’t hear you or see you
My grief and fear are mixed
I’m broken inside
*
Who will come and help
I cry in desperation
Can you hear me, God
The silence is deafening
In unbelief and belief
*
You said for me to “Be Still”
And know that you are God
My anxiety blinds me
My fear imprisons
*
I need you to come
Keep your promises you gave
I am overwhelmed
There is no one to comfort
My body and soul feel dead
*
I need a resurrection
You understand all my grief
You meet me with compassion
I will wait for you
*
You always come at right times
My soul is refined by fire
False thinking I’ve depended on
No longer secures
*
I stand waiting for relief
Your comfort is far away
That is the way I’m feeling
I find no relief
*
“I have come to heal
To bring hope to the hopeless
Freedom for the prisoners
Give sight to the blind
Bring good news to the poorest
Give all the captives freedom”
*
Healing instead of relief
Is the promise He’s given
With mixed feelings do we hear
Choose who we will trust
*
Reading Psalm 16 and 46 reveal a narrow path of hope. We all find ourselves at some time in the spot these reflections communicate. When I decided that I did not want relief but I wanted healing above all, a pinhole of light entered my world. I chose to move toward that light with trust and hope to make it through the storm I was in at the time. We all think no one understands. That is a lie. There is One who does and comes to bring that healing that only He can give. I choose to “Be still” trusting His words today.
Begin being still
July 28, 2009
~
Good conversation
Is what I look for each day
Begin being still
This helps me become aware
Of a larger loving voice
I’ve discovered that my eyes
Are the windows to my heart
My mind will give direction
In the “morning watch”
Temptations will come
To take advantage of me
So I’ll guard my eyes
I’ll choose the focus
Many voices are calling
Anxiety knocks
Fear of the future
And the many ways harm comes
Can rob me of the now
“As iron sharpens iron”
We each sharpen the other
Let us consider
And look for the perspective
That is the reality
Where are you focusing now?
written July 27, 2009
see Proverbs 27:17, Proverbs 27:20
~
every morning
July 1, 2009
~
Every morning I arise
And confront the dark places
When I focus they arrive
Challenging the Peace
I’ve found that these feelings
I awake with each morning
Were falsely handed to me
From generations
Anxiety leads the way
Based on the fears that I have
My desperation hidden
In a secret place
These feelings are masked well here
Behind my pride, lust and greed
I know these are all true
About me and maybe you
I have learned this truth
Train to daily rest
Under stress my feelings rule
I know what they are
Naming my fears has helped me
Writing them down is better
Being honest with myself
I am powerless
When I was age twelve
I had figured out my world
How to survive and succeed
It worked for a while
Be a “good boy” all around
“Perform to please the others”
“Be strong and show no weakness”
Then things will go well
These are the lies I believed
My feelings are based on these
The voices that are in me
Are rooted in these
They will never go away
This one thing I have learned well
They’ve created a false self
That hurts me and you
So I meet them each morning
Allow their voices to speak
I am kind and forgiving
Then put them to sleep
A twelve year old will not rule
Who I will be in this day
When the stress arrives
The voice of love will speak
written June 30, 2009
~
Your Story Matters 