Showing posts with label heartbreak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heartbreak. Show all posts

Saturday, February 11, 2023

Until We Kiss The Hands That Hold Us...


Evil in its lowest forms of hatred for God,
in shameless applause for sin!
Disasters that destroy and wreak unfathomable havoc and grief
oh God! We cry and You hear!

Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help.
 From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

David's new release feels like perfect timing
Our thoughts and prayers are with many suffering, 
esp. those in the earthquake aftermath




Some hurts would be too hard to bear without God’s hand to hold
Life, but a valley of despair where tragedies unfold
Hope, a hollow oblation in the station of the mind
Seeking sweet consolation, it can never fully find

Some hills would be too hard to climb without God’s hand to clasp
His word transcends the march of time; His goodness is steadfast
Where, like an outstretched Hand God’s word will undergird and still
The heart-storm when we do not understand love’s perfect will

Some crosses would feel merciless, without God’s Hand to trust
Without unfailing promises to cheer our weary dust
To comfort us because we know He never leads astray
But for faith’s benefit will show the error of our way

Some sorrows would seem hard, too hard without…ah, look and see
Behold his hands, how they are scarred because of Calvary
He suffered in our stead to break the curse of sin so man
May undeservedly partake of pardon’s perfect plan

Some wonder is too much to spell with lowly ink of thought
As we bow where love’s blood-drops fell and death’s triumph was wrought
Where redemption enfolds us and hope anchors us until
We kiss the hands that hold us in love’s pure and perfect will

© Janet Martin


Monday, June 28, 2021

Heart-sick

From The Dying Thief- Charles H. Spurgeon
The fact is, there is nothing so good but men can pervert it into evil, if they have evil hearts: 
the justice of God is made a motive for despair, and his mercy an argument for sin. 
Wicked men will drown themselves in the rivers of truth as readily as in the pools of error. 
He that has a mind to destroy himself can choke his soul with the Bread of life, 
or dash himself in pieces against the Rock of ages. 
There is no doctrine of the grace of God so gracious 
that graceless men may not turn it into licentiousness.




Sometimes the heart gets sick
The evils of this world
Can cruelly cut us to the quick
So shamelessly unfurled

Debauchery and greed
Pay no heed to the cost
But dark and dangerously feed
On lost leading the lost

The troubles that we face
Would crush and overthrow
But for the fountain of God’s grace
That washes white as snow

Beware of the soul’s foe
The craft of finite pow’r
Who seeks while roaming to and fro
All who he can devour

Dear soul, be on thy guard
Take up thy Spirit-sword
Lest, by a lie you should discard
The armour of the Lord

Lest, by sin’s sleight of hand
We lose sight of the Prize
Without God’s armour, who can stand
Against satan’s disguise

Sometimes, the heart is sick
Of evil’s hellish sway
Oh God, when life cuts to the quick
Hear the tears that we pray

...and let Belief's increase
Be more than idle talk
Lest faith is shattered piece by piece
Against the Solid Rock

© Janet Martin

Psalm 62:1-2

Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Friday, February 12, 2021

Betrayal; The Chief of Grief

This week-end many will celebrate love on Valentine's Day.
I am so thankful for all the faithful love in my life
but this year I feel an unutterable sorrow for so much brokenness!💔

And while the word Betrayal renews reverence for the word Faithful 
it also leaves us grief-stricken with a sometimes-feels-helpless heartache, 
to witness the ruins of shattered lives!

Is there any hurt more bitter and brutal than betrayal; When trust is broken?! 
When spouses, friends, preachers, teachers, apologists, priests 
betray those who trusted their love, 
their counsel, their ‘wisdom’, their vows, their office. 

One of Jesus’ twelve disciples betrayed Him, (with a kiss!
Surely there is a sorrow more bitter than death! 
That of betrayal! 


When trust is shattered, love besot, 
When what we thought was so, is not 
When lie and liar are unveiled 
When it seems, alas, love has failed 
God, who, still trustworthy and true 
Abides, resides, provides; He knows 
The pain of thorns that pierced the Rose 
He wept, while his beloved slept 
Betrayed by a friend’s kiss, no less
He reaches down with hands nail-scarred
He understands; his brow thorn-marred
Who plumbed the depths of pain and grief 
In suffering, ah, He is Chief 
So then, whatever bitter lot 
We can trust Him, no matter what 

© Janet Martin 


Heb.4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. 
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes 
of him to whom we must give account.

So we pray and pray for the broken, the betrayed, 
and the betrayer, just as Jesus, Son of God though He was, did. 

Heb.5:7-9
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions 
with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, 
and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
 8Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered
 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation 
for all who obey him...



Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Unbroken Hope

Now hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:5 NKJV






When trouble meets its mark like a gigantic wrecking ball
When sorrow sears the place from whence our tears like oceans fall
When answers are not able to allay want’s anguished tides
And our hearts are broken, Hope abides

When doubt flexes its muscles like a fighter in the ring
And we cringe in the corner like a frightened little thing
Then we would be defeated but for He whose grace sustains
For though our hearts are broken, Hope remains

When love that long had lavished us with tender happiness
Becomes a sword that pierces us where no kiss can caress
When we begin to wonder how in the world we will cope
Then, though our hearts are broken, never Hope

Hope whispers in our bearing though we cannot see His face
With God’s own arms it gathers us into His kind embrace
And though we stagger ‘neath the cross where loss its grief assures
And hearts are hurt and broken, hope endures

© Janet Martin


 I was going to share verses  7-8 from 2 Cor. 4 but the whole chapter is especially dear today...


2 Cor. 4
The Light of the Gospel
1Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.
 2Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, 
nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, 
we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 
3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see 
 the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
 5For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, 
and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”a made His light shine in our hearts
 to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.b 
Treasures in Jars of Clay
(Romans 6:1-14)
7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power 
is from God and not from us. 
8We are pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, 
so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 
11For we who are alive are always consigned to death for Jesus’ sake, 
so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal bodies.
 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13And in keeping with what is written: “I believed, therefore I have spoken,”
c we who have the same spirit of faith also believe and therefore speak,
14knowing that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus 
and present us with you in His presence.
 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is extending to more and more people 
may overflow in thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, 
yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. 
17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us 
an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison. 
18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. 
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Monday, October 7, 2019

Hope...(and remembering Ron)


We at WBC as well as many worldwide are deeply mourning with his family,
 the sudden passing on Saturday Oct. 5, 
of our beloved teacher, counselor, pastor and friend, 
(above link is to the last message with us a WBC)

Hope is the holiness through which we grieve.
Hope is the word that came up again and again as we remember Ron.
His life was driven by The Living Hope that he shed with his last breath as faith became sight!
To all of us then on this side of Heaven...
 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 
for He who promised is faithful.
Heb.10:23

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
 In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope 
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Pet.1:3


Hope takes the trembling heart and hand
To draw us from despair
And makes the way twixt God and man
Thus possible to bear

It hones the hunger for the goal
With holy appetite
And fills the gap twixt God and soul
With faith intent on sight

It drives us to our knees with groans
Then lifts us up at length
And to the depth of grief intones
A supernatural strength

It consoles us beneath trust’s rod
Its comforts, cheers and heals
And tunes the time twixt man and God
With purpose-driven peals

Hope fosters faith and leads us on
Through deepest, darkest vales
Hope anchors us in sorrow’s storm
With love that never fails

© Janet Martin

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Hope For Heaven Renewed

 

Hurting and praying for the Schuurmans... 


Oh God! this plow that pushes through time’s joy and sorrow sweeps
Was not designed for those who pine for that which Bygone keeps
Time’s horror, hurt and hunger renews Heaven’s hope each morn
As from this place of grief and grace a precious face is borne

And nothing we can do or say will return that which was
So, if we hear Salvation’s plea, pray we reply because
Who knows the ending of what begins as another day?
And who knows who, before come twilight, will be called away?

Oh wow! the plow we push forward leaves furrows full of Past
Death reminds us to live each day as if it was our last
…and we should always, only, ever use the time God grants
To make the best of life and love while we still have the chance

© Janet Martin



Monday, June 29, 2015

Heartbreak...





That last time she was     hurt once too often
She vowed never     to tell, But every now and 
then her tears don’t     keep her secret well
 The last time      love rent her heart-
strings   she reached to feel 
the fringe of     something 
frayed and    foreign
Dangling on   one 
hinge



© Janet Martin