Hope Victorious

If I could, I would rescue you I would carry for you the heaviness that burdens you It hurts to see you bent; I fear that you will break My heart longs to be the answer   I know that I cannot save you The help I can offer feels so small I am diminished by my frustration I cannot be your rescue   My desire has fueled a building anger towards God What is possible, He has not chosen to do Your rescue, your healing is well within His hands And yet completely outside of my grasp   If the sheer force of my love for you could apprehend it If determined faith could pay the price Or it was allowed for me to take your place The miracle would be secured and your rescue complete   I will wait; with determined hope, I will watch Again and again, I will ask and pray I stay tender; welcoming comfort to ease my disappointment I protect the new faith that springs up – I will not be afraid   Is it enough to walk beside you? My strength, my love, all the hope in my heart I will o...

I describe myself as hopeful.   More often than not, I find myself feeling literally full of hope.   It has not always been this way.   In the past I was hopeless more often than hopeful.   I’ve had my battles with deep depression, I’ve entertained the voices telling me to give up and end it all.   Those voices were silenced years ago, but I still remember the trails that got me into that deep darkness.   While it may be easier now than ever to stay away from despair, the truth is that even on my best days there are places in my life where it is a challenge to be full of hope.   There are places where I am tempted to surrender to hopelessness.   Other areas of life I describe more as being weary in hope; like my hope is worn out, old and tired.   In the past I found this disparity disconcerting; feeling hopeful in some area of my life, yet completely lacking hope in other areas.   But recently, for the past year or so I have adopted a ...

I wrote this “poem of decision” during a time of personal anguish. I am determined not to reduce the level of my expectations to the reality of what I and my family are experiencing.  There is a cost to self-protection, it is a cost I am unwilling to pay! I will not fear disappointment My hope will not be sacrificed on the altar of safety and self-protection I am willing to pay the price of sorrow Confident that I will find my way back to hope I have been here before, walked the tightrope of guarded expectations Bore the callouses of hardening myself to hope My valiant attempt to avoid pain So afraid of disappointment, I tethered my hope and dared not dream It robbed my joy, emptied me of peace Isolated me from love and wonder Slowly, I suffocated in air toxic with fear Hollow and void of color - a mere shell of my former self No More!   My hope is worth much more I will not fear disappointment, pain or even fear itself I stay soft, open – my hope unhindered It may hurt – but ...

  Friend I wish you wings – to carry you high and far           A new perspective           Soar my friend           Fast and Free I wish you a safe place to land           A place to rest           Air to breathe deeply           Clean and cool I wish you friends to share the journey           To sing with you each morning           Rest close by in the evening light Soar free my friend           And let me hear your song I am listening for you     Tension      You can feel happy and sad at the same time      You can be full of hope and enthusiasm in one area of life      Yet discouraged and profoundly unmotivated in another      You can love some...

It sounds good…but all too often, it is not at all what I am asking for or hoping to receive.   Understanding is often the very thing that I am seeking. Peace that surpasses all understanding is what is promised. A peace too great to comprehend; that exceeds my ability of my reasoning, the capacity of my intellect.   I am aware that much of the time I short circuit my own pursuit of this peace.   I go to God with my questions, my long list of requests, desires and inquiries.   I bring my fears and anxiety, my weaknesses and lack. I am asking for answers, for strategies and direction. I often want to know what I should do.   The truth is this: what I want IS understanding.   I want to understand WHY!   Why what is happening is actually happening and why it is not somethings else, like what I desperately wish were happening! I want to understand HOW to respond. I want to know what to do, how to think, how to feel and I especially want to know WHEN it is...

Your heart is vast Endless love contained within you Poured out on those who receive you The same as those who reject you Your eyes that see it all Yet you love and offer hope, rescue, and a way into peace It is more than my mind can understand      The hope you offer knows no bounds – at once marvelous and scandalous      I consider the sin you will forgive      The lives you have restored Your hand expended to those in rebellion, denial and oppression A boundless love offensive in what it will embrace There is no despair so great No choice so horrifying that it could overwhelm the magnitude of your love My mind cannot comprehend it But still my eyes can see it      What is there to say, but yes again to you?!      Yes! to the God of endless, unintimidated love      A love that knows no bounds –   at once marvelous and scandalous I run towards you – not away I will not let my mind judge a lo...

The presence of doubt does not disqualify your faith.   The father of the demon-possessed boy in Mark chapter 9 had both faith and doubt.   He had good reason to doubt the ability of Jesus to cleanse his son.   After all, when the man brought his son to Jesus’ disciples, who had healed others, they were unable to help him.   The disciples seemed baffled by their lack of success.   The man then brings his son to Jesus and asks him if he is able to help. (see Mark 9:22)   After asking how long the boy has been affected, Jesus turns the question back on the father.   Jesus tells the man that all things are possible for anyone who believes.   The man had questioned Jesus and His ability.   These were the man’s words:   “ But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”   (v.23)   His words reveal his doubt; he asks Jesus to help IF He can.   Jesus turns that back; “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him...