Wednesday 8 June 2011

Peace with God



"When trouble comes, whether external or internal threats to our physical or spiritual welfare, we are to turn inside out. Our first inclination at these times is the opposite. Like a turtle withdrawing into its shell at the sign of danger, we turn inward and grab hold of our own resources to sustain us. But as counterintuitive as it is for us, we must turn outward at precisely these times and hope only in the Lord, whatever our conscience threatens, whatever blandishments Satan offers, whatever our experience tells us is the obvious case" (Michael Horton, A Place for Weakness, p.176/7).


PEACE WITH GOD

Restless searching of my heart, striving for its goal
To find the one thing that it lacked - peace within my soul.
I thought I’d found it once, you see, and nothing could now come
To take away my peace with God through Jesus, His Own Son.

Eyes were lifted high to see the Glorious King of Kings,
Ears echoed with the gospel promise that only Jesus brings,
How sweet the taste of God’s own Word , pure honey on my lips
A heart transformed from stone to flesh, locked in Heaven’s grip.

My heart o’erflowed with peace and hope as I stood on mountain peaks,
By God’s grace He held me close, such joy I couldn’t speak;
And dimmer grew the memory of a darker, harder walk,
And lighter was the grip I held of helmet, shield and sword.

One well-judged blow from the enemy sent me crashing to the ground
I lay there dazed and wounded, armour scattered all around
But what caused me the greatest grief as I tried to stand once more
Was feeling that my peace was gone, peace with my Loving Lord.

How can this be? I asked myself, tears streaming down my face
For God’s elect always have peace once given by His grace –
I drew a sad conclusion then that filled my heart with fear
I’d never really known His peace, never been drawn near.

But then through dark and brooding clouds I heard a distant cry
The voice of saints exhorting me - “Pick up your sword and fight!”
Eyes now growing clearer, I grasped that precious blade
And once I felt it in my hands my soul was less afraid.

For now I saw that God’s own Word speaks Truth for all to hear
Defeating lies of enemies and driving out my fear
“Since we’ve been justified by faith, we have peace with God!”
The sword had done its work once more, my feet stood on firm Rock.

Oh! peace with God! Such blessed peace! ‘tis sweeter now I see
That what I thought I’d lost I’ve found, was never gone from me!
I pray I might be wiser now, as I firmly hold my sword
Not trusting in my feelings – but the Word of my Lord.

12 comments:

  1. Wow! That is beautiful. I pray this for myself too:

    "I pray I might be wiser now, as I firmly hold my sword
    Not trusting in my feelings – but the Word of my Lord."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Diane B here - (Blogger isn't letting me sign in again)

    "Oh! peace with God! Such blessed peace! ‘tis sweeter now I see
    That what I thought I’d lost I’ve found, was never gone from me!"

    Oh Diana, this is so beautiful! You are very talented.

    I have had to correct myself so many times, on the truth that God's peace is not a warm fuzzy feeling, rather it is believing that we are no longer at war with Him because our sins have been forgiven. We never have to be fearful of judgment - Christ took that judgment upon Himself.

    "But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment." I Jn 4:18.

    Again, thank you for such a lovely poem my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful poem Diana....I loved it and I love the heart that wrote it! You are amazing!!! Today on my blog, I wrote about God's peace that passes all understanding that guards our hearts and minds. This goes right along with that!!! You are precious Diana...thank you for sharing your love for Christ!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lisa - it's so easy to say, and sooooooo hard to do, not to trust your feelings. As you said on your blog, yes, there is hope for us turtles though - through each test, God is teaching us little by little to turn to Him.

    Diane - love that verse, thanks for sharing that! Yes, to know we never have to be fearful of judgment because Christ took it in our place - may we never lose sight of this glorious Truth! Bless you, my friend.

    Barbara - yes, may His peace guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Great blog post of yours. Thanks for stopping by, bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow. I love this poem. Really well done. I love the resolve I hear at the end.

    I have been in this place many times:

    "One well-judged blow from the enemy sent me crashing to the ground
    I lay there dazed and wounded, armour scattered all around..."

    But God...so patient and understanding, He teaches us His way and equips us for battle.

    You're armed and dangerous!
    -E

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh Elizabeth, what this showed me beyond all shadow of a doubt is how well the Body of Christ works. At those times when we are so weak ourselves, God works through His saints to exhort and encourage us to look to Him. And I thank Him for that! God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Reading this brought tears to my eyes, Diana. It resonates with the truth and strength that comes from putting on Christ and placing your trust in Him, completely.

    When you stop trusting your feelings, you are reduced and He is magnified and so is your trust in Him. How beautiful to see!

    God equips us with EVERYTHING we need to handle any situation we might face, including battle with the enemy. Oh, how I've needed this reminder myself and how thankful I am for His Word and the company of the Saints!

    This is just so beautiful, strong, and resolute! I agree with E, "You're armed and dangerous!" What a beautiful sight to behold!

    Love and many blessings,

    xoxo

    Ruthie

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sweet Ruthie - thank you so so much for what you've said here. "When you stop trusting your feelings, you are reduced and He is magnified" - that is my heart's prayer. Thank you for being one of those "distant voices" calling out to me to put on my sword ♥ - one day, I pray, your voice won't be so distant :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful poem, Diana! It spoke to my heart because I too was too comfortable in my religion once and carelessly (very carelessly and loosely) held my helmet, shield and sword. And when I fell, I too felt too crushed to stand. But God is so faithful! He helps us every step of the way. He helps us fight, and He helps us to rely on Him more and more as we move forward in the battle realm! Love and hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very beautiful poem, my new-found friend. I especially love the last line

    Not trusting in my feelings – but the Word of my Lord.

    How I needed to read this today!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Petra - yes, God is faithful when we are careless! Praise Him for that! I thank God that He is working in your life, drawing you to depend on Him more and more. God bless you.

    Melissa - glad this encouraged you, I'm also needing to reread that last line myself! Doesn't seem to be a lesson that we can tick off that we've learnt that one now, and now it's time to move on to something else...think this is an ongoing battle - but thankfully we have the resources we need from Him to continue to fight! Bless you, Melissa!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am glad, Diana, that technology makes our voices seem less distant, but, I agree. God willing, dear friend, we will be able to meet in person one day. Your voice and those of our dear other friends will be music to my ears. :)

    ReplyDelete