For me, one of the most challenging verses in the Bible is this: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18). How do we rejoice when things are hard? How do we give thanks when our lives don’t look like we thought they would? But if I have learned anything in my walk with Christ, it’s that God provides us with the means to follow Him. His commandments are not burdensome1. His power gives us all we need to be more like Him2. Sometimes it’s easy to praise, and sometimes it costs us because we have to surrender our dreams over to His will, but when we feel empty-handed, He is right there with us, filling us up. He enables us to say, “Yes, Lord” to the road He has for us. There’s a lyric from a Sara Groves song3 that says, “I am nodding my head an emphatic yes to all that You have for me,” and I had that idea in mind when I was writing this poem.
All Is Grace
The words come easy when life is easy,
when sunshine is profuse and the breeze mild.
I barely have time to think before they rise up,
escaping my lips without hesitation.
My hands are open, my face uplifted,
and I give You thanks.
But on cloudy days, when the rain falls in sheets,
when I cannot see the way in front of me,
I choke on the words in my throat.
I am forced to swallow a pill too bitter,
made to take what I want to refuse.
I clench my fist and wonder at the ache.
You open my fingers one by one.
Everything in my hands comes from You.
My hands themselves are not my own.
I did not earn what I have been given.
Who am I to expect the good?
Who are You to give it to me?
“For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16
1 John 5:3
2 Peter 1:3
Beautiful. Erin!