Finding The Secret

More Than Conquerors
August 2004 Part 2

“Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” —Psalm 46

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles: they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” —Isaiah 40:31

In the midst of all that we are doing, and in the face of all we have done and will have done in the future, we must trust that God is God. While it is never right to hope and pray for good, doing nothing ourselves, we cannot forget that all matters lie in the hands of Almighty God. Only because of His sovereignty can we live our lives and, at the same time, be completely in line with His plan.
When a mistake looks the most devastating, when change seems too difficult to affect, when someone has hurt us, when our goals seem too outlandish, or when loneliness feels as though it will overwhelm us, let us not anxiously wring our hands. Rather, let us joyfully lift them up in prayer, as well as lend them out in service to others. We can do this with the knowledge that our Lord is working “in us, through us, around us, and in spite of us.”*

—Samuel Popiel

*Sean Groves’ Album: “Twilight”

Borne

If you think of the concept of flight
You will find it’s no matter of might.
Wings themselves won’t ascend.
No, they ride on the wind,
And without they’ve a most futile fight.

—Samuel Popiel

Wrapped

Wrap me up in folds of Presence—
Encase me with the sound of You—
All I have is all I’m needing,
Knowledge that I exist for You—

Remind me often that You’re by me—
Paint the grass again a green—
Here I sit within Your Being,
With nothing left to do but breathe—

—Joanna Spencer
© Joanna Spencer. Used with permission.

God Is Our Hope And Strength

Tempest and terror below; but Christ the Almighty above.
Though the depth of the deep overflow, though fire run along on the ground,
Though all billows and flames make a noise,—and where is an Ark for the dove?—
Though sorrows rejoice against joys, and death and destruction abound:
Yet Jesus abolisheth death, and Jesus who loves us we love;
His dead are renewed with a breath, His lost are the sought and the found.

Thy wanderers call and recall, Thy dead men lift out of the ground;
O Jesus, Who lovest us all, stoop low from Thy Glory above:
Where sin hath abounded make grace to abound and to superabound,
Till we gaze on Thee face unto Face, and respond to Thee love unto Love.

—Christina Rossetti

Zenith
“Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles” —Isaiah 40:31

I christened it a peak—
’Twas just an interlude
Before the coaster’s dive
Into a darker mood.

And not until I chose
To step into the gloom,
Discarding my defense,
Accepting certain doom—

Not knowing where I walked,
But holding to a thread,
In hope of God’s provision
I followed what He said—

I’ll journey where I must,
In God I place my trust!

I finally reached the zenith
And rise to greater heights,
And, given eagles’ wings,
I’ve learned the joy of flight!

—Benjamin Graber

angry
before I realized, I was just
tired
assumed You didn’t care
before I realized, I was just
tired
so much do I live in the moment,
not even seeing the big picture of the hour
much less Your hand in the day
the week
the year
and just yesterday, You reminded me
let me put the big picture together
of a lesson I was learning
that took decades
and in remembering now
I smile
at my childishness
so sorry Abba
hugs

—Cindy Julius
© 2004 Cynthia Julius. Used with permission

Quiet Moments

Oh, how the trials hurt my heart.
With nowhere to escape,
I am forced to run to God
And on His wisdom wait.

Patiently, God will try my faith
That I may test His faithfulness.
When trapped within the walls of pain,
He shows me all His gentleness.

While the fear drives me to my Bible
For comfort and relief,
To gain a message for the moment,
When craving for some peace.

“Oh, God,” I cry, “please, answer,”
As I fall upon my knees.
“Make some sense to me, right now.
Your faith I want to seize.”

So often though, the deepest anguish
Just doesn’t go away.
So, God teaches me to keep on trusting,
For all on Him to lay.

“Lord, show me what You’re doing.
I don’t want a bitter heart.
Give me a dose of joy to share,
So I don’t fall apart.

I believe You’re in control of life,
All is in Your will.
Please keep my hope alive,
To trust You love me still.

For, You beat all grief at Calvary.
The fighting has been done.
Help me, now, to rest upon Your love,
So my fear is overcome.”

Soft Whispers from
Derry’s Heart Poems
© 2003 used with permission
heartwhispers@iinet.net.au

Let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is
always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.
~1 Peter 5:7~

I built a house, named it’s base Naught,
For I constructed it of that.
Alas! the wind
Blew my house in:
Just tore it up from where it sat

The strength of my foundation was
Whatever I desired, because
I made it all
Imagined all
It seems the wind found out my flaws.

I see the wind is much more real
Than anything I think or feel
Reality
Soon bested me
My images to Truth must kneel.

—Samuel Popiel

Rejoice

“Rejoice,” said the Sun; “I will make thee gay
With glory and gladness and holiday;
I am dumb, O man, and I need thy voice!”
But man would not rejoice.

“Rejoice in thyself,” said he, “O Sun,
For thy daily course is a lordly one;
In thy lofty place rejoice if thou can:
For me, I am only a man.”

“Rejoice,” said the Wind; “I am free and strong,
And will wake in thy heart an ancient song;
Hear the roaring woods, my organ noise!”
But man would not rejoice.

“Rejoice, O Wind, in thy strength,” said he,
“For thou fulfillest thy destiny;
Shake the forest, the faint flowers fan:
For me, I am only a man.”

“Rejoice,” said the Night, “with moon and star,
For the Sun and the Wind are gone afar;
I am here with rest and dreaming choice!”
But man would not rejoice;

For he said— “What is rest to me, I pray,
Whose labor leads to no gladsome day?
He only can dream who has hope behind:
Alas for me and my kind!”

Then a voice that came not from moon or star,
From the sun, or the wind that roved afar,
Said, “Man, I am with thee—hear my voice!”
And man said, “I rejoice.”

—George MacDonald

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or
nakedness or danger or sword?… No, in all these things
we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
—Romans 8:35, 37

If you have any comments or questions, or if you have a poem to share, please send an e-mail to bgraber@neo.rr.com

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