I Am Waiting

I am waiting,

Cause there is nothing else to do,

Everything I am and have, 

I hand it up to You

So will you take me?

You say that You make all things new,

Well I'm torn apart and bleeding,

So tell me, is it true?

Can You heal me?

Can you take this mess I'm in?

Can you fix this?

Will I ever smile again?

My heart is heavy,

And my eyes cannot see light,

Is morning ever coming?

Is there an end to this dark night?

My thoughts are racing,

And I do not understand

How painful things can somehow have a purpose in Your plan
But I will trust You,
You are faithful,
You are good
I asked You not to leave me,
And You swore You never would
So I will wait here
I'll stand my ground and wait for You
You are my God,
And all Your promises stand true
Yes, I will trust You
I'll cling to truth and fight off lies
Because no matter how it seems I'm being watched by sovereign eyes
Come quickly,
Wrap me tight in Your embrace
Wipe my tears,
And let me gaze upon Your face
My highest treasure,
You hold my heart,
You hold my hand,
And You will finish what you start
So I am waiting

 

 

 

New Seasons

Summer has just begun here in Mobile, Al. This week school got out and people headed in mass towards the beach. The weather is beautiful (although we all know the heat is coming), and tags such as #Summer2013 have begun popping up all over social media.

I have had a lot of thoughts about this new season. Besides the actual change of season, there are several things that have changed in my personal life, relationships, and routine this month. Some things have come to a close, some things have begun. There are aspects of myself that I have done away with and new things I am venturing into exploring. There are goals of things I wish to accomplish over the next few months and goals of things I hope to not be dealing with at the end of the next few months. All this to say, I've been dwelling on thoughts of change and improvement.

Some seasons, like Summer, are handed to us, and whether we want to or not, we are going to go through them. Some seasons though, are up to us to initiate. This life is short, we have to be intentional. Are you in need of some major changes? Are you living life to the fullest or does time seem to be flying over your head? It's never too late to initiate a new season.

Make a list:
1) Things about your life that you're not happy with.
2) Things you've always been interested in but have never taken time to experiment with.
3) People you want to know better but you never invest time with.
4) Personal issues, bad habits, struggles, etc, that you want to overcome.
5) New things you want to push yourself to try.

Embrace new things. Embrace change. Start a new season.
What's on your list?

Things As They Seem

There will be days where it seems like everyone has left.
You will feel completely and totally alone.
You will feel your aloneness so intensely, you will start to feel yourself separating from planet earth and beginning to float away.
You will want to cry out but as you begin to, you realize that no one is listening.
 

You can see them, all of them, from the air, getting smaller by the second as you rise a little higher. They are running around, busy, involved and invested in very serious things that can't wait.
You know if you don't cry out now, you will be far out of range for anyone to hear and all hope will be lost, but you keep quiet. You keep quiet for a few more seconds, accepting your fate and preparing for whatever is about to happen next.

But you can't. They're right there! Maybe if they knew they could help. If you could just get them to look up, surely they would see you! So you try to speak up, but no words come out.
Maybe it's the change in the atmosphere around you or maybe some other invisible force is holding you back.
Besides, as reality sets in you realize you are too far gone for any of them to help you. To cry out now would be to make a spectacle of yourself..."Hey, I'm in trouble here but no one can help so just gather round and watch how it's all going to fall apart!" So you resign yourself to floating.

At least this way no one will know.
At least this way no one will see you in this condition.
Maybe this will end quickly.
Maybe you will hit something that will stop you.
Maybe it's not so bad as it first seemed.
Maybe it's better this way.

You start to get comfortable.
Darkness sets in and you grow cold.
You feel less, but it's easier that way.
You stop fighting.
Your eyes get heavy.
Every blink lasts a little bit longer.
You take a deep breath, in and out.
In, and out.
In and...-that moment when your lungs are as full as they can get something inside you snaps: No.

No!

Arms and legs flailing, eyes jolted open, you realize that this is not okay.
You cannot resign and give up, you will not go out without a fight.
So you scream. You scream with everything you have just hoping that maybe you're still close enough for someone to hear.
Just maybe they can still see you and just maybe they will be willing to reach out and pull you back in.
You scream until your very soul seems to be shaken.

And then, you feel someone's hand on your shoulder and you jump.

You feel another hand on your arm and you realize your eyes are shut.

You open them and to your amazement you are on the ground and surrounded by hundreds of people all staring straight at you with wondering eyes.

"Are you alright?"
"Do you need help?" 

 

There will be days when it seems like everyone has left.
You will feel completely and totally alone.
You will feel your aloneness so intensely- but things are not always as they seem.

Cry out!
Open your eyes.
Realize you're surrounded. 

Dodging Apathy

Will you accept my honesty,
When there's nothing here but apathy?
When this heart is cold and hard,
When my sin has carried me so far?
When the pressure and weight of my own control has taken my passion and drained my soul?
When I'm tired and broken, confused and worn out,
Will you save me again?
Will you pull me from doubt?
I do what I don't want and what I want I can't achieve,
I want to say I want you, but even in that I feel decieved.
I think about these words all day, they're here, relentlessly.
Let's stop playing, I'll drop the mask, this is the real me:

I'm tired of broken and depraved people having more effect on me than the One who gave his life so that I could know him.
I'm tired of wallowing in my sin and my shame and these emotions that say they have control.
My chains are gone, I have been set free. Nothing holds power over me anymore.
And yet I sit, with the shackles of bondage and slavery now broken but still resting on my ankles, waiting to be shaken off.

I sit, because "it's too hard" and "no one understands" and "I'm tired".
And although you hung off a tree, held up by only the spikes driven through your flesh...I can't find the motivation to shake off these shackles that your blood crushed loose and step out of this mess I find myself in.
I'm tired of myself, but not tired enough to change.
I'd rather sit in my apathy and my moaning and my sin.
"It's so hard." "Why am I this way?" "I don't know what to do." "I just don't understand."
There are a million other words I can continue to say to make myself feel the pain and fear and heaviness of the spot I'm in.
And as silly as it sounds, as bad as pain and fear and heaviness are, they are familiar. And familiar is comfortable.
And so I sit.

The truth is there are many unknowns and a lot of those unknowns will be unknowns for the rest of this life.
The equal truth is there are a few knowns that override every possible unknown, and for the life of me I don't know why I can't stay focused on those.

You are sovereign.
You are good.
You love me.
You are the only thing that remains eternally stable and unchanged.
You are the only thing worth investing my whole self into.
You are the answer, in every situation, even when there is no answer to the situation.
You are peace, you are joy, you are every good thing.

But my wandering heart, and my restless flesh,
My thoughts that entertain a million other things than the One that can quiet them all,
They are ruthless, they chase after me in an endless pursuit.
And I'm tired.