I often don’t stop talking long enough to hear your reply.
I don’t sit still long enough to receive your direction.
I pace and worry and try to make things happen on my own.
I doubt and question and fail to see You sitting on the throne.
I confess my sins to the world but do I proclaim your glory?
Do I trust in your forgiveness enough to proclaim your salvation story?
Each stage, each day
Is a step closer to You
You guide me, provide me
Strength and mercy to push through
You excite my heart with battles won
Using the past to direct me to Your Son
You are near to the broken hearted
You are near to those lost
Your faithfulness to us
Came at a great cost
You don’t see our iniquity
You don’t see our faults
Your Son paid that price
On the cross
We live in a world
Where questions abound
Doubt seeps in
And hopelessness is found
But Your Word and truth
Gives hope
Your voice and forgiveness
Helps us to cope
Every moment brings a new promise
A new sunrise and change
Every prayer makes us feel heard
And gives us hope for the next day
I envisioned the path I wanted, so I toiled day and night to prepare it. I cleared out the brush, smoothed the gravel and started to put on my shoes.
I knew exactly what this path would bring, or so I conceded: love, long life, happiness, everything a girl could dream.
So I began my petition “Please Lord, oh bless this road I built. Let me have it. You see how perfect it is to be used for your will.” But He just kept telling me “Be still”.
The brush kept growing over. Soon barriers started popping up. “Lord what are you doing? Are You saying no to my request?” So, I’d clear it again, pray harder this time, keep working, never to rest.
Until the brush grew so tall, there was no way around it. My way was blocked with no recourse. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. So, I sat and mourned, questioned and screamed.
Then one day the brush shriveled up, the weeds crumbled to dirt and the path was clear. But now it looked like a brand new road – a tree lined path with a refreshing breeze. And this is what the Lord said to me:
“While you were toiling and spinning your wheels, I saw just what was in need. I saw the undergrowth that would be popping up on your way. I saw hazards and choking weeds. I allowed the brush to stop you, so I could finish my work and make this path the best it could be. Now go on my dear, we’ll journey from here on this path you’ve entrusted to me.”
I say I will go this way
But You direct my steps
In my head, all my plans are made
But only You see what’s next
My vision is oft filled
With self-centeredness or fear
Directed by my instinct
To survive and thrive here
Your plans are grander
than I can conceive
Designed with a purpose
Linked to eternity
I know not the path
Nor the way
So close to You
I’ll stay
You will make a way through this uncertain road
You’ll clear a path and illuminate my stepping stones.
Where will you take me? You will not say.
Only that you love me and you know the way.
Along the path my Lord leads me, whispering as we go.
Invisible safety embraces me disguised as a “not now” or a “no”.
Holding me to say “wait”, releasing me when it’s time to go.
Where he is leading me, I don’t yet need to know.
You are the warmth I feel
when driving at night
The hope I find
when nothing is right
The melody in my song
When I don’t have a tune
The vision in my head
When I don’t know what to do
Discomfort causes me to stop and listen
What is it you’re trying to say?
My normal devices are saying nothing
So I’ve got to look your way
My name is discernment
Trust what I reveal and know
I show you the hidden things
You’d otherwise never be told
I show you opportunities for blessing
And how to count sorrow as joy
I whisper God’s wisdom
Amid this world’s noise
I sense when something new is brewing
When it is time to block an attack
I sense calmness and times to be still
When to move on and when to hold back
I’m a gift, don’t ignore me
Shut me out or throw me away
Embrace me and listen
Trust what I say
You steered me into the storm
On my trusty boat I went
But the winds picked up
Soon flailing overboard
All my senses spent
This was the way to go?
Why on such a rough sea?
Isn’t there a smoother path
Somewhere designed for me?
But the wind against my sails
Taught me a lesson or two
Gave me new strength and courage
And pointed me straight to you
Christian Poetry, Thoughts & Analogies 