A few months back Robin gave me titles from which I could write poems. There were five of them to begin with. Until today I had written all but one. This last one was, well, challenging for me. Not that I didn’t have ideas for it, but they never seemed to be quite right. It was actually frustrating me because the whole reason she gave me these titles in the first place was to help me get past my writer’s block. In spite of my frustration I felt like God was telling me to be patient… that when I was supposed to write it I would find my inspiration.
It’s been a good month in the making, but I did indeed find my inspiration. I was watching a video of a sermon from Heartland church that was posted towards the beginning of this year. The title of the message was “Unbroken”. The message was centered around Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” The pastor made it evident that what we think of as “good” and what God knows will work for our good can be two completely different things. He pointed out that often the things that are the most difficult for us are the things that God uses the most to draw us to Himself. He showed a clip of an interview between a pastor at a church in California and the then almost 95 year old man who is the subject of the book and the movie “Unbroken”. What an amazing story and testimony this man has! He spoke of so many times where he cried out to God to spare his life, and God did just that. But after his captivity and his return home, he was angry and bitter about all that he had been through. It took him totally surrendering to God to realize the power of forgiveness and the power of allowing God to bring good out of the most trying of times.
That was my inspiration for this poem… and that is my inspiration for not clinging to hurt and anger and fear of the unknown. It doesn’t mean that I WANT to go through difficulties… It just means that if God knows these things will work together for my good, then I want to learn and grow all that I can because of them.
THE BEAUTY WITHIN
I know You never promised
This would be an easy road,
Still at times I feel I’m crushed
Beneath the burdens of my load.
In the deafening sound of silence
I so often feel alone
Somehow my fractured heart keeps beating
Although it’s partly turned to stone.
I wait with hope and expectation
For the coming of the day
When the tears will flow no more
And love and joy will come to stay.
I cry out in desperation
In the deepest dark of night
I plead with You to help me
For on my own I’ll lose this fight.
My soul is battle weary
And my patience has grown thin
But You shine Your piercing light
To show the beauty that’s within.
My eyes are opened wide now
So at last I finally see
It is often through these trials that
You do Your greatest work in me.
Kristin Tucker October 25, 2015