pathway

pathway
Give me my scallop-shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My script of joy, immortal diet,
M
y bottle of salvation.
My gown of glory, hopes true gauge,
And thus I'll take my pilgrimage.

~Sir Walter Raleigh

A hiker, walking for pleasure, likes to choose between several alluring trails.
The pilgrim desires only the road that leads home.

~Frank W. Boreham


Sunday, March 6, 2011

Overgrown

Batter my heart, three-personed God; for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow burn, and make me new....
~John Donne

How grateful I am that our God in His gentleness woos and loves me to Himself. Yet there are times when battering and breaking is required. Strongholds, walls, defences of the enemy, of soul-self make total possession by Him impossible.

If I am to be totally occupied with Him, efficient, effective battering must take place. Pain and desolation are not my favorite things. But I must learn to accept His tools, His ways required to bring about that occupation.

My soul seems quite overgrown with brambles and briars of late.
They cling to the crumbling walls of my defences.
There is a dullness that distresses. Like Martha of old, I seem distracted with many things.

This is not the occupation I desire.

Today, battering and leveling are requested that my total occupation once more is Him, my Lord and my God.

This is a good day for it, this Lord's day.

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