I Was Alone – A Poem

I was alone (or so I thought)
I felt there was no hope

with all life’s trial
with the feelings I felt
with the success I achieved
with the duties life dealt

I felt alone, but You were there
watching over me
I felt alone, but You always cared
gave the hope I now see

* * * * *

I was going through some old papers as part of our spring break project to clean out and paint our spare bedroom, and I found a piece of paper with this poem handwritten on it. I don’t know when I wrote it, but it is definitely my handwriting so I thought I’d share it here as part of my 40 poems for Lent.

Wait for the Harvest – A Poem

When your basket is empty
and the harvest is far away
despair is all your heart recalls
and you can’t bear another day
call on the Lord of the harvest
He will hear you when you pray

In times of great tribulation
your faith the Lord is growing
His perfect and pleasing will
is what He desires your knowing
He will deliver harvest aplenty
fill your basket to overflowing

* * * * *

In the book of Ruth, Naomi finds herself with an empty basket, an empty life. After traveling to a foreign land, her husband dies and then her two sons die. She is left with only her two foreign daughters-in-law. Her life is bitter and barren. But then she returns, with her daughter-in-law Ruth, to her homeland in Bethlehem just at the beginning of the barley harvest. By the end of the story the Lord has refilled her basket with many blessings. During our group discussion of chapter 1 last Monday evening the idea for this poem was born.

4/2/13 update: I’ve shared this for dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night today. Head over and check out some other poetry.

Perseverance – A Poem

We must persevere
trials in this world
finding within each one
great blessings for the day

We must endure
losses in this world
recalling for each one
the blessing of knowing
that which was lost

We must persist
never give up
when the road is easy
or the road is tough
seeing the good blessings
of our God in Heaven

We must persevere
to the finish
Christ will see us through

Rejoice – An Acrostic Poem

Rejoice in the Lord always
Everlasting joy from His heart
Joy even in the darkest times
Overflowing joy in my heart
In times of want and times of plenty
Carrying me through trials of this life to
Eternal life of rejoicing in the Lord

The Past I’ve Left Behind – A Poem

The past I’ve left behind me
pursues me in the dark
trying to persuade me
I’ll never hit the mark

But I keep pressing forward
to the life that lies ahead
where God has promised glory
my prize for which He bled

The past has no hold on me
for the Son has set me free
my future is eternal life
His child I’ll forever be

¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:12-14 (NLT).

My God, My Restorer – A Pantoum

My God, my Restorer is near
When all is lost and carried away
He comes to heal by His sacrifice
When darkness surrounds my soul

When all is lost and carried away
He restores peace with His grace
When darkness surrounds my soul
He is the Light to show me the way

He restores peace with His grace
He comes to heal by His sacrifice
He is the Light to show me the way
My God, my Restorer is near

Where’s Your Focus?

Today is the last day of a 3 ½ day conference I’m attending in Florida for work. It’s been a great conference for the most part. I saw some good friends who I only see once or twice a year. I gleaned some tips and ideas that I will be able to implement back at the office to increase revenue and make my staff and me more productive and efficient. And I got to spend some time in the warm, sunny Florida weather, which has been a nice break from cold, rainy Oregon.

On that last note, I should have enjoyed just a bit more of that sun this afternoon instead of attending the final plenary session, but the topic looked interesting so I went. The topic was emotional intelligence. I thought I would come away with at least one or two tips on how to better deal with others, maybe something that would help in my role as a manager and program director. Alas, that was not to be.

This far too touchy-feely session was all quite odd. The “speaker” started by having us meditate for 7 minutes, during which time we were supposed to visualize ourselves next to a lake. Then he had us doing exercises to illustrate how we experience stress because of the fight or flight response of the amygdala of the brain because of the 99.9% of the human existence that involved running from tigers, followed by an exercise in which we were supposed to look into the eyes of another person for 2 minutes — twice — and I’m still not sure why.

In general, the “solution” to stress that he seemed to be offering — though he never came right out and said this — was to focus inwardly on our real self. He also suggested that we need to recognize the way things truly are.

I generally am not a very stressed-out person. Things don’t rile me up too easily and I don’t worry about all the things on my to-do list. I take one day at a time and one task at a time, and if no one is going to die as a result of my doing or not doing something, I don’t let it stress me. My solution to the problem of stress has been this:

• I spend at least 15 minutes in prayer every morning, not focusing on me but on Jesus.
• I concern myself more with the needs of those around me than with myself.
• When I catch myself being “me” focused, I stop and ask God to refocus my thoughts onto Him.

I do agree with the second solution that this speaker suggested — that we recognize the way things truly are. And the way things truly are is that God is in control of the big picture, no matter what the little picture in front of me might suggest.

I thought of Peter who was able to walk on water, until he took his focus off Jesus. As long as we focus on the source of our strength, power, and peace, we will not sink into a sea of stress and worry.

I also thought of Daniel who was able to spend the night in the lions’ den without a scratch because he trusted in God to protect him. As long as we trust in the One who cares for us, we will have no need to engage in fight or flight behavior in the face of lions.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV).

So where is your focus today? If you are feeling stressed and anxious, don’t look within for strength and peace. Focus on Jesus who is the Prince of Peace and cares for you like no other.

Why I Share the Gospel

The word Gospel means Good News. I love to share the Good News that God loves us. And yet I’ve been asked why I am compelled to share this Good News with those who don’t believe. Why can’t I just leave them alone to believe whatever they choose?

The easy answer is that in scripture God commands us to share the Gospel. Jesus told His disciples, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV). For many Christians this is all the reason they need.

Another reason for sharing the Gospel is because we want our loved ones to spend eternity in heaven. I wrote about this reason in a previous post titled The Hardest Thing. For many Christians this is the primary reason.

But as I’ve pondered this week why I personally share the love of Jesus, I realized it goes much deeper than that. The other night I was reading in one of my devotionals before bed and was reminded of a passage in Jeremiah that illustrates the reason why I desire to share the Gospel with others. This passage is from Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NIV):

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

This passage is very similar to Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV), which says:

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

The reason I share the Gospel is because having a relationship with Jesus Christ has made me like a tree planted by streams of water.

I used to be a huge worrier and every little difficulty in life would throw me for a loop. Life was hard and I was more like a bush in the wastelands. There were times when things seemed good, but it never seemed to last and the smallest challenge would seem insurmountable.

But now, with Christ in my life, I can face the challenges of each day. From an objective perspective my life hasn’t gotten that much easier, but my ability to weather the storms that come my way is much different. When I experience a time of drought, I have a source of living water to sustain me.

I’ve known people who have gone through some of the most difficult challenges anyone can imagine, but because they know Jesus they have had the strength to endure and even prosper in spirit. I have a friend who lost her 6-year-old son to a sudden illness and then lost her husband to a brain tumor almost a year to the day later. For many, this type of loss would have been devastating. Yet because of her faith and the strength of her Savior Jesus, she was able to move on and focus on caring for her two other children.

I’ve known other people who are not Christians who struggle with every little challenge that comes their way and who are completely sidelined by bigger trials. They seem to have no anchor in the storms of life. Their focus remains on every bad thing that happens. They do okay when good things happen, but their happiness is short-lived. Having been like them at one point in my life, I feel compassion for their plight.

Which is why I want the peace and love of Jesus for others; it’s why I share the Gospel. The promise of eternity in heaven is one thing, but God’s promise of spiritual peace in spite of the circumstances of this life is so much more tangible and useful for those who need it.

Broken Heart of Love – A Poem

Broken Heart of Love

This searing pain in my heart
I wish it would go away
I pray for it to leave me
But it is love
I would be hollow without it

I watch you drowning
in a sea of turmoil and fear
I reach out my hand,
the one connected to my broken heart
“It’s okay, the sailing’s fine,” you say

I walk away, thinking perhaps
My eyes deceive me and you are not
drowning, or else why
would you say otherwise?
I know you would not lie

But still this pain
deep down inside my aching heart
reminds me
that you are not fine,
the sea is not calm

The storm rages
but I cannot rescue you
You cannot see my hand
reaching through the darkness
beckoning you to dry land

Psalm 93 – A Prayer for Sandy Survivors

Watching the news of the devastation hurricane Sandy caused on the east coast is heartbreaking. I can’t imagine living through a natural disaster of that magnitude. It makes me thankful I live in the Pacific Northwest where the only natural disaster we worry about that could cause anywhere near as much damage as Sandy has is a volcano erupting, and those don’t happen very often.

As I read the next Psalm at the beginning of my prayer time this morning, I was amazed at how perfect this Psalm is as a prayer for those on the east coast facing the massive clean-up effort. It is a reminder that although the sea rose up and caused massive damage, God still reigns and will provide the strength needed to continue on. May the Lord be strength and comfort for those in need.

Psalm 93

¹ The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
² Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.

³ The seas have lifted up, Lord,
the seas have lifted up their voice;
the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
⁴ Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea—
the Lord on high is mighty.

⁵ Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;
holiness adorns your house
for endless days.