If I had not known
The piercing of love’s sword
In lifting up cries
For a brother
Whose silenced cries
Entered my heart
I would not know
The faithfulness of a Savior
Who saw, knew
And carried our broken hearts
More than twenty years long
Nor the power of a God
Who heals, restores
And makes whole
A family
In Him woven One.
If I had not known
The horrors of cancer
Stealing strength and life
From my Mum
Day in and day out
I would never have tasted
The peace
That passes all understanding
Nor the love
That conquers all.
If I did not know
What it is to be held
When all I have wanted
Is to die
I would not know
The power of God
Perfected in trauma
His fellowship of suffering
And what it is
To be embraced
By so many
Near and far
Who know
That to live is Christ
And to die is gain.
If I had not known
Rejection’s repeated sting
I would never have had
My eyes opened
By faith to see Jesus
Outside the camp
Calling me, a sinner,
To sit and break bread
With Him.
If I had not known
My pride
And worldly standing
Stripped
I would not now know
The treasure of heaven
In my family’s eyes
Nor the gift
Of the alabaster box broken
Of prayers upon prayers
Rising
As incense sweet.
If I had not known
The lies upon me hailing
In my God’s own House
I would not know
The One who tethers our feet
To the ground
Who pours His breath
Into our lungs
And who perfects
His Body, our bodies,
In our weakness
As sin is brought into the light
For compassion to flow
And grace to unfurl
In Spirit fruit and leaves
In Christ revealing Himself in me
If I had not known suffering
I wouldn’t be tasting
The width and depth and breadth
Of love now
I wouldn’t know my Savior
And His Cross
To always and ever be
Enough.
So, today
I will lift my voice
And sing!
Today,
I will lift my hands
In praise!
Even as my heart aches
My tears fall
And my flesh and heart fail me
Again and again
I will give thanks!
I will shout in praise
Of the One
Who remains
The strength of my heart
Of the One
Who overcomes
Every weapon formed against us
On His Cross
Every curse
Has already broken
Undone.
Yes, today, I will praise Him
In whom each and every Promise
Is Yes and Amen!
Oh Father, thank You for our stories of healing that declare Your handiwork. Thank You for removing the embrace of worldly comfort from us as a children that we would know Your true comfort and love. Thank You that we may know Jesus and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible we may attain the resurrection from the dead. Thank You for turning that which was meant to harm us into good through the sacrifice of Your one and only Son for us.
Thank You for helping us through the trauma we have walked through to look for You and recognize You in places and people we never would have otherwise looked for or seen You. Thank You for stripping away our idols to reveal that man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that departs from Your mouth. Thank You for showing us that every Promise You have spoken is already yes and Amen in Christ.
Thank You for sending us out into the world to call Your family home: to commune with You in children that we, Your Body, have forsaken in the past. Forgive us, Father! Thank You for showing us that You have never ever repelled or forsaken even one of Your precious children. Thank You for the mercy You have repeatedly extended to us through these children, even as we have not recognized You in them and turned You away in our own blinded self-righteousness.
Thank You for teaching us over and over to see and embrace the belonging You speak over us and all your beloved children through Your Word. Thank You for holding out Your love and belonging to us every single day of our life. Open our eyes to see and take a hold of Your extended hand today.
Thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for the humbling You have worked in us through suffering and continue to daily. Thank You for the gift of pain that draws us all deeper into who You truly are: our only way, truth and life.
Thank You for taking us where we would never go of our own accord. Open our eyes to see You in the families we have married into and in the communities You have set us. Thank You for using our daily celebration of who You are – our Rock, our fortress and our Redeemer in our weakness and need – to restore and heal Your broken Body.
Thank You that You are faithful from generation to generation. Thank You that Your love conquers death, that Your peace surpasses all understanding and that You have broken every curse holding us captive.
Thank You that You are unveiling Your freedom in each one of us day by day. Thank You that You have planted us next to Your living streams to daily wash and cleanse us in Your living and breathing Word. Thank You that You are daily growing Your fruit for food and Your leaves for the healing of Your Body in and through us. Thank You that we will yet see the fulfillment of each and every single Promise You speak over us and the lives of those You intercede for through us.
Thank You that You have not forsaken even one of Your beloved children and that You will continue to perfect Your power in our every weakness. Thank You that our trials do not define who we are, but are Your gift to us to draw us ever more deeply into who You are: strong and mighty in our weakness. Remind us and show us that You are so much greater than we could ever fathom.
Today, we, Your Body, choose to lift up our sacrifice of praise in honor of who You are in each one of us: Your beloved, called, treasured and chosen children. Thank You for being SO strong in our weakness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Featured image of bird song by Tom Bradley on Unsplash
