As of late, I’ve been wrestling with questions about direction in life and letting go of my conceptions of what God’s blessing on my life should look like, and it’s only now that I’m realizing that I have such little experience of God’s power or His glory or His love. I’m only now realizing that I struggle to trust Him with every part of me because I haven’t come into the knowledge of His love for every part of me. I find myself right back where I started when I began questioning in the first place: “Fill me with the knowledge of You, God, with the knowledge of the holy!”
Today has been a respite, a respose from the inanity of semester’s end. After a late breakfast, I decided to go outside and enjoy the glory-fall. I walked out past the parking lot and sat on a big rock and gazed across the field in front of the school. It was a beautiful moment—gazing and reflecting and praying. I couldn’t help but take it all in, and I was so thankful that my eyes are truly open. When your eyes are really open, you never want to miss a single moment, but take it all in because you become aware of the beauty surrounding you. Each moment is invaluable because it will never come back, and you may never have another one quite like it. It causes you to be thankful even for the hard moments because you can look back and see how it has shaped who you are in the present. So you really can be thankful in all things. Wow.
At some length of sitting and gazing, I decided to go for a walk on a nearby trail. Eventually, I came to this sight:
Art in the wilderness
Look familiar? It should if you remember this post at the beginning summer. The one difference is that it’s facing the opposite direction. At some point since I took the last picture, the pole has been turned around so that the text is facing the other way. It’s symbolic. It points to the fact that I am now on the other side of summer—on the other side of those particular hardships and circumstances. It points to the fact that God has covered me through difficulty and oppression and uncertainty and has sustained, strengthened, and empowered me to live abundantly. It demonstrates the outworking of God’s glory in my life. It fills me with purpose for the present and hope for the future. Wow.
To conclude this post, here’s a new poem:
Patterns
Here and there, occasionally,
I have a thought begin to spread
And germinate through what I’ve said,
The event seems random at best.
Here and there, occasionally,
I have a word to kindly share,
And sharing, I myself do bare
My heart and everything I have.
Here and there, occasionally,
I open what is firmly shut,
Exposing the infected cut
Of solitude’s egregious blade.
Here and there, occasionally,
I realize amid my pain,
The omni-present God would deign
To be near to my broken heart.
Here and there, occasionally,
I bow under a heavy load,
I find that I despise the road
I have unswervingly chosen.
Here and there, occasionally,
I falter for a wise critique,
The very wisdom that I seek
Would sooner be my undoing.
Here and there, occasionally,
I find offense at every turn,
The power of what I would learn
Is robbed of all efficacy.
Here and there, occasionally,
I pause to hear all heaven shout—
This is what life is all about—
And hope springs within me once more.
So today I want to officially announce the print release of volume number two of my poetry! You can now order “Snapshots: Of the Coming Glory” as a print on demand book immediately through CreateSpace and Amazon!
Snapshots: Of the Coming Glory
I also want to announce a blog series I will be launching soon! God has been laying the subject of prayer heavily on my heart lately; and I have been inspired to run a series of guest blog posts about prayer. We’ll be talking about many different aspects of prayer ranging from the experience of it to abiding in it (and abiding in Jesus) to seeking out the fullness of God through it. The purpose of having guest writers is to encourage you that there are many, many saints traveling along the journey of faith and each one has a unique perspective on prayer as God has and continues to reveal different aspects of Himself to His children at different times and in different ways. I pray that you are blessed through this coming series. Until next time, be watchful for His coming, and may you be blessed by God’s presence until His physical return!
I have a newly penned poem that I’d like to share with you! You’ll be able to find this poem and many others in my upcoming book Snapshots: Of the Coming Glory!
Dead Ends and Open Doors
Please, don’t remind me again,
It hurts as deep as any sin,
See me now begin to blush,
See my blood begin to rush
To my head.
Like I said,
The path of pain does only now begin.
Now I can’t say anything.
My ears will not stop from ringing,
Every door has now been shut,
Every trace of feeling, cut,
To avoid.
I am void,
It isn’t hard to refrain from singing.
Savor this grueling essence,
Speak my pain into Your Presence,
Numbing waves of stagnation,
Quite the lack of sensation,
Beautiful.
Surreal,
Crowned by a strange light, holy resplendence.
From whence comes this redemption?
Did I not ask for exemption?
Still, an open door does form,
The LORD Himself does transform
My dead end,
and rescind
Every trace of inaction’s preemption.
