What is it like to sense that God is real?
What is it like to know Him as He is?
To cast aside the last small shred of doubt
And know His power within?
The message comes to men in many ways
As God directs that man should find the light,
As hearts are opened to His gracious love
And souls are brought at last to Him!
To some the way to God seems almost cruel
For men rebel and fight to walk alone,
Claiming they ‘know the way.
And in the claim they build a throne for self.
They talk of God, they search, but trust too much
That inclinations in the heart of man
Are always set on climbing heights sublime.
For man is weak and often without sight
While holding that he waits for God.
Well maybe so, but choices still are his,
And he must make them on his own
For man can choose his way.
Why then must darkness capture men,
And what of countries far that seem to call?
It only shows that man knows not himself
The weak and helpless creature that he is.
T’is also true, he does not know God’s power
Nor has he fully opened soul to deeper life.
So man lives on in darkness grim
Seeking release, yet caught within sin’s hold,
In misery he longs for help divine,
But fails to find a place to pin his hope.
How deep the dark of sin in wild advance!
How great the agony of evil’s torturous thrust
When fear and hopelessness have had their day!
How distant seems the warmth of peace;
How cold the icy chill of man alone.
But God is good, His Spirit is divine,
His power supreme o’er all the world.
His love is bent on helping every man
Who cries for help, who longs for light.
Serene and lovely is His presence there
Awaiting hearts that will release themselves
To let His love come in.
Tis God who speaks within a fretful mind,
And He alone who takes a faltering hand
To lift that man from darkness and despair
And show him how to stand again.
A love divine who pierces flagging wills
A Spirit burning with compassion and with grace
A glorious voice that echos through a man
A revelation of a way to life.
An arc of spiritual insight driven deep,
And lonely man awakens from the dark
To find a brilliant sunrise in the soul!
What ecstasy to know His sheltering love
Protection from a thousand poisoned darts
All aimed to kill if they could find their mark,
But evil ways, alas, can be no match for God
And helpless man has armor through His Lord,
For in the battle God is by his side
Until the breaking of the morning light.
The breaking light is glory to the soul,
As men see God for what He is.
They hear that voice that holds the stars in place,
And feel the power of Love’s divine embrace,
Then man is cleansed and home again,
And sheltered in the Father’s house!
And what the lesson of a sojourn grim:
A clear reminder now of God’s abiding claim,
And power divine released to cure and hold.
But lasting lessons go beyond that day
To burn a searing insight deep within,
A citadel against another storm,
An arsenal of power we know as faith,
A confidence in self as led of God
Against that day.
No fear, no fear, no worry any more,
No lurking call to maim and then destroy;
For God has called His own.
And man at last is anchored in the Father’s house!
(Feb. 1, 1968)